By Joseph Ax
(Reuters) -Texas Republicans on Friday sought to increase the pressure on more than 50 Democratic lawmakers who left the state to prevent a vote on a new congressional map, announcing that absent state House members can only collect paychecks by appearing in person.
Texas House of Representatives Speaker Dustin Burrows said electronic deposits had been canceled and members must now pick up payments at the capitol in Austin, effectively cutting off pay for Democrats who have left.
Democratic legislators have holed up in California, Illinois and New York in an effort to stop Republicans from enacting a new congressional map aimed at flipping five Democratic seats in the November 2026 midterm elections.
The Texas standoff has prompted Democratic governors to threaten to carry out their own redistricting, while Republican leaders in other states have said they may follow Texas’ lead.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has vowed to redraw his state’s lines if Texas moves forward, was scheduled to hold a briefing on Friday with some of the Texas Democratic lawmakers who fled the state.
The outcome of the escalating national war over redistricting could determine control of the U.S. House of Representatives, where Republicans hold a narrow 219-212 majority.
Speaking on the House floor on Friday, Burrows also said the legislature would withhold 30% of absent members’ paychecks to ensure that daily fines will eventually be covered, and that missing lawmakers would not be allowed to send newsletters to their constituents or seek travel reimbursement.
“Each one of you knows that eventually, you will come back, and we will pass the priorities of the special session,” he told Democrats.
A spokesperson for the Texas House Democratic caucus did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Burrows previously signed civil warrants for the Democrats and said the Texas Department of Public Safety was “working to track down absent members.” Those warrants are not enforceable beyond Texas’ borders.
Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton have threatened to seek to remove the missing Democrats from office, though legal experts have expressed skepticism about their theory.
Republican U.S. Senator John Cornyn of Texas said on Thursday that the FBI had agreed to his request to assist in tracking down absent Democrats, but it was unclear precisely how, or whether, federal agents would become involved.
(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
