Texas House Democrats who left the state to prevent a vote on new congressional maps will return to Texas, feeling they have accomplished their mission of killing the first special session, raising awareness and sparking national backlash about the mid-decade redistricting, multiple sources confirmed to ABC News and ABC station KTRK on Tuesday.
ABC News has not confirmed the date that Democrats plan to return or if they will return in a group, though one source told ABC News the House Democrats loosely plan on returning this weekend.
Those plans could change, one source noted, if Republicans go back on their word to begin a second special session on Friday.
MORE: Texas House Democrats remain out of state as redistricting showdown continues into second week
Gov. Greg Abbott and House Speaker Dustin Burrows said Tuesday morning that the chamber will sine die on Friday, rendering the current special session adjourned if Democrats do not return by then.
Abbott would then call a second special session “immediately,” he said in a statement. He indicated the second special session would include every item from the first and potentially additional items — though his office could not say what those additional items might be
Abbott has said he is committed to calling special sessions, which can last a maximum of 30 days, as long as needed to pass the maps.
In a news release on Tuesday that did not share specific plans, House Democrats proclaimed victory, saying that they “have killed this corrupt special session on behalf of Texas families — exactly what we said we’d do when we left the state.”
-KTRK’s Tom Abrahams contributed to this report.
