The video at the top of this story is from a previous interview with Texas House Rep. Gene Wu.
AUSTIN (Nexstar) After two weeks in the Windy City, Texas House Democrats are back in Texas’s capital to commence Gov. Greg Abbott’s second special session.
When the House convened shortly after noon Monday, the roll call showed enough members present to meet quorum.
“We are done waiting. We have a quorum. Now is the time for action. We will move quickly, and the schedule will be demanding until our work is complete,” House Speaker Dustin Burrows said, addressing the chamber.
The House referred several bills to committees for hearings and potential action, including several bills in response to the deadly July floods. The committee on Disaster Preparedness and Flooding scheduled a meeting Monday at 1:30 p.m. to consider pending business.
The House adjourned until Wednesday morning. Burrows had ordered the doors to the chamber to be locked. Members needed written permission to leave the chamber.
Burrows announced an extra step for Democrats who broke quorum and had arrest warrants issued. The Speaker said those members would be granted written permission to leave only after agreeing to be released into the custody of a designated DPS officer who will ensure they return to the House on Wednesday at 10 a.m.
Monday morning, the House Democratic Caucus, or HDC, announced many of its members would return to the Capitol and touted the quorum break as a victory.
“We killed the corrupt special session, withstood unprecedented surveillance and intimidation, and rallied Democrats nationwide to join this existential fight for fair representation reshaping the entire 2026 landscape,” HDC Chair Gene Wu, D-Houston, said in a statement.
The House Democrats left the state on Aug. 3 to prevent the House from having the 100 members needed to vote on new districts for U.S. House members from Texas, intended to flip five Democratic House seats to Republican seats.
“We’re returning to Texas more dangerous to Republicans’ plans than when we left. Our return allows us to build the legal record necessary to defeat this racist map in court, take our message to communities across the state and country, and inspire legislators across the country how to fight these undemocratic redistricting schemes in their own statehouses,” Wu added.
While the Democrats were gone, Republican leaders came up with many avenues to punish them in an attempt to get them back. Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, said the Texas Department of Public Safety racked up at least six figures in overtime costs to find the quorum breakers costs which the quorum breakers are responsible for. Each member is also responsible for a $500 daily fine $7,000 each for their 14-day quorum break.
In addition, some Texas Republicans have called for stricter punishments. State Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, said Abbott should’ve killed all future bills authored by Democrats.
“Why are we not pledging that for every one week the Democrats are gone, instead of adding five new Republican seats, we’re going to add six,” Harrison told Nexstar on Aug. 12. “Why have their committees not been stripped away from them? When has their seniority not been taken away?”
On Friday, State Rep. Wes Virdell, R-Brady, who represents Kerrville, shared a similar sentiment.
“Penalties would be removal of seniority, removal of vice chairs, removal of office budgets and possible expulsion depending on if they were the leaders of it or not,” Virdell said.
As recently as Monday morning, State Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, was calling for those returning to be arrested.
“Go ahead and post up at the garage and Capitol entrances,” Cain said on social media. “Detain them and take them to the House Floor.”
On Monday, Burrows put an emphasis on getting work done in the House.
“No one here needs a reminder that the last few weeks have been contentious. But from this point forward, the rules of engagement are clear. Debate is welcome, but personal attacks and name-calling will not be tolerated,” Burrows said from the dais.
“Members, it is time for us to get to work,” he added.
