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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott warned state Democrats that the threat of arrest upon returning to Texas will last “for literally years” on Sunday.
Abbott made the statement during an interview on “Fox News Sunday” with host Shannon Bream. He argued it is within his authority to keep the Texas legislature in a special session indefinitely, extending the penalties for Democrats who fled the state.
“I’m authorized to call a special session every 30 days. It lasts 30 days. And as soon as this one is over, I’m gonna call another one, then another one, then another, then another one,” Abbott said.
“If they show back up in the state of Texas, they will be arrested and taken to the Capitol. If they want to evade that arrest, they’re gonna have to stay outside of the state of Texas for literally years,” he added.
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The warning comes as Abbott is seeking to remove delinquent Democrats from office, arguing they have abdicated their roles under the state constitution.
“We have a situation where lawmakers are violating the law in Article 3 of the Texas Constitution where they are required to act on bills. Because they’re violating that constitutional mandate, that means they are not fulfilling their oath of office, and they can be removed from office in this legal action that I’m taking,” he said.
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At least 100 members of the 150-member Texas House must be present to conduct business, and approximately 50 of the Democrats have left. Abbott says their commitment to voting as elected state officials is a duty and is “not optional.”
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Most of the Democrats have set up in Illinois and New York, where they have received the backing of Democratic governors J.B. Pritzker and Kathy Hochul, respectively.
Alongside Abbott’s extended threat of arrest, the Republican governor has also threatened to increase the redistricting margin for his party if lawmakers don’t return to Austin.
“What I’m thinking now is that if they don’t start showing up, I may start expanding,” Abbott said during an appearance on the “Ruthless” podcast. “We may make it six or seven or eight new seats we’re going to be adding on the Republican side.”
Fox News’ Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report
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