周二下午，德克萨斯州众议院再次未能推进重划选区的努力，因为数名民主党议员因拟议的国会地图而逃离该州。
共和党州长格雷格·阿博特(Greg Abbott)周一下令德克萨斯州公共安全部(Department of Public Safety)找到并逮捕这些民主党人，阿博特表示，这一命令将一直有效，直到他们“被带回到奥斯汀”。
德克萨斯州众议院于美国中部时间周二下午1点重新召开会议，但仍未达到法定人数。
共和党人众议院议长众议员达斯汀·布伦斯(Dustin Burrows)表示，他会见了德克萨斯州DPS的领导层，听取了关于寻找和遣返在抗议中离开的德克萨斯州众议院民主党人的努力的简报。
“对主席来说，DPS显然需要一些时间来发挥作用，我们将在周五再次努力达到法定人数，”Burrows说。
推动德克萨斯州共和党人绘制新地图的唐纳德·特朗普总统在周二早上对僵局进行了权衡。
“我们在德克萨斯州有机会获得五个席位。我们有一个非常好的州长，我们在德克萨斯州也有很好的人。我赢得了德克萨斯。你可能知道，我获得了得克萨斯州历史上最高的选票，我们还有资格获得五个席位，”川普在接受美国消费者新闻与商业频道的电话采访时声称。
拟议的地图可能会创造多达五个新的共和党席位，并帮助该党在2026年中期选举中保持对美国众议院的控制。
许多得克萨斯州民主党人周日离开该州以示抗议，并在周一获得了蓝州州长的支持，包括纽约州的凯西·霍楚尔和加利福尼亚州的加文·纽瑟姆。Hochul和Newsom都表示，他们将努力在自己的州重新划分党派，作为对德克萨斯州的回应。
阿博特逮捕民主党人的命令是在德克萨斯州众议院投票发出民事逮捕令后发出的，尽管他们在州界外没有权力，也不清楚德克萨斯州执法部门在多大程度上可以与相关州的同行协调。
周二下午，阿博特向州最高法院提交了一份紧急请愿书，要求德克萨斯州众议院民主党核心小组主席、众议员吴(Gene Wu)离开他的办公室，认为他离开该州以阻止法定人数，从而“丧失”了他的办公室。阿博特要求在美国东部时间周四下午5点前做出裁决。
得克萨斯州共和党参议员约翰·科宁周二致信美国联邦调查局主任卡什·帕特尔，敦促联邦政府与雅培和州执法部门合作，调查州民主党人犯下的任何“潜在犯罪行为”。
“我请求美国联邦调查局的援助，因为联邦资源是必要的，以找到外州的得克萨斯州议员，他们可能违反了法律。当当事人跨越州界时，美国联邦调查局拥有协助州执法的工具，包括避免作证或逃离犯罪现场。具体来说，我担心那些寻求或接受资金来帮助他们逃避立法职责的立法者可能犯有贿赂或其他公共腐败罪，”Cornyn写道。
周二上午，民主党全国委员会主席肯·马丁(Ken Martin)与德克萨斯州众议院民主党人和伊利诺伊州州长JB Pritzker一起参加了新闻发布会，他在会上反驳了特朗普的评论。
“就在今天早上，他说共和党人有权获得这五个席位，对吗?让我非常非常明确地说明这一点。任何政党都无权拥有任何选区。我们必须走出去赢得选票，这就是民主的意义所在，”马丁说。
马丁指责德克萨斯州的共和党人，尤其是阿博特“为所欲为”。
“他们在这里的目的很明显，因为他们知道他们将在2026年输掉比赛，”马丁说。
普利兹克指责阿博特和德克萨斯州司法部长肯·帕克斯顿“阻挠美国人民的意愿”，伊利诺伊州副州长朱莉安娜·斯特拉顿表示，该州愿意保留所有选择，包括以实物形式重新绘制地图。尽管伊利诺伊州被指控不公平地将自己的地图偏向民主党。
特朗普周二在接受美国消费者新闻与商业频道采访时，批评民主党州长制定计划，可能会绘制对他们有利的新国会地图，并以此为由继续在得克萨斯州的努力。
“这是不公正的划分。加利福尼亚被不公正地划分了选区。我们应该在国会有更多的席位。在加州，一切都是不公平的，”总统说。
Texas Republicans fail again to advance redistricting effort amid Democrat absences
The Texas House of Representatives failed again on Tuesday afternoon to move forward on their redistricting effort as several Democratic members have fled the state over the proposed congressional maps.
Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, on Monday ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to find and arrest those Democrats, an order Abbott said will remain in effect until they are "accounted for and brought back" to Austin.
The Texas House reconvened at 1 p.m. CT on Tuesday, but still did not have enough for a quorum.
House Speaker Rep. Dustin Burrows, a Republican, said he met with leadership at Texas DPS to get a briefing on the efforts to locate and return the Texas House Democrats who left in protest.
"It is evident to the chair that DPS will need some time to work, and we will try again to make quorum on Friday," Burrows said.
President Donald Trump, who pushed Texas Republicans to draw the new map, weighed in on the standoff on Tuesday morning.
"We have an opportunity in Texas to pick up five seats. We have a really good governor, and we have good people in Texas. And I won Texas. I got the highest vote in the history of Texas, as you probably know, and we are entitled to five more seats," Trump claimed in a phone interview with CNBC.
The proposed map could create up to five new Republican seats and help the party keep control of the U.S.House in the 2026 midterm elections.
Many Texas Democrats left the state on Sunday in protest and received support from blue state governors on Monday, including New York's Kathy Hochul and California's Gavin Newsom. Both Hochul and Newsom said they would effort partisan redistricting in their own states as a response to Texas.
Abbott's order to arrest the Democrats came after the Texas House voted to issue civil arrest warrants, though they have no power outside state lines and it's unclear to what extent Texas law enforcement could coordinate with their counterparts in the relevant states.
On Tuesday afternoon, Abbott filed an emergency petition with the state Supreme Court to remove Rep. Gene Wu, chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, from his office, arguing that he has “forfeited” his office by leaving the state to prevent quorum. Abbott asked for a ruling by 5 p.m. CT Thursday.
Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, sent a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel on Tuesday urging federal cooperation with Abbott and state law enforcement to investigate any "potential criminal acts" committed by state Democrats.
"I request the FBI's assistance, as federal resources are necessary to locate the out-of-state Texas legislators who are potentially acting in violation of the law. The FBI has tools to aid state law enforcement when parties cross state lines, including to avoid testifying or fleeing a scene of a crime. Specifically, I am concerned that legislators who solicited or accepted funds to aid in their efforts to avoid their legislative duties may be guilty of bribery or other public corruption offenses," Cornyn wrote.
On Tuesday morning, Democratic National Committee chairman Ken Martin joined Texas House Democrats and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker for a press conference, where he pushed back on Trump's comments.
"Just this morning, he said that the Republicans are entitled to these five seats, right? Let me just be really, really clear about this. No party is entitled to any district. We have to go out and earn the votes, and that's what a democracy is about," Martin said.
Martin accused Texas Republicans, and Abbott in particular, of "doing his bidding."
"It's very clear what they're up to here, because they know they're going to lose in 2026," Martin said.
Pritzker accused Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton of "thwarting the will of the American people" and Illinois' Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton said the state is willing to keep all options on the table, which includes redrawing their maps in kind. Though Illinois has been accused of unfairly skewing its own maps in favor of Democrats.
Trump on Tuesday, in his interview with CNBC, criticized Democratic governors for working on plans to potentially draw new congressional maps in their favor and used it as an argument for the efforts in Texas to continue.
"That's all gerrymandered. California is gerrymandered. We should have many more seats in Congress. In California, it's all gerrymandered," the president said.
