Politics

Gov. Greg Abbott’s options to force a redistricting vote are more limited than they appear

Published

11 months ago

August 4, 2025

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had a message Sunday for the dozens of Democratic legislators who fled the state to derail a mega-partisan gerrymander: “This truancy ends now.”

But Abbott’s options to compel those Democrats — whose departure to Illinois and other states is preventing the state Legislature from conducting any business — to return and vote are more constrained and legally uncertain than he let on. And they may take significant time to resolve in court.

Abbott and other Texas Republicans face a hard deadline as they are preparing to adopt maps that could net the GOP five seats in the U.S. House, potentially cementing the party’s majority in Congress. Maps need to be completed before the end of the year so that election officials can prepare for the state’s March 3 primaries. The move has also prompted retaliation threats by Democratic governors in other states and roiled expectations for the 2026 elections, when Democrats hope to take the House and act as a check on President Donald Trump.

Here’s a look at the central questions as Abbott’s standoff with Texas House Democrats deepens into a monumental political and legal brawl.

Why did Texas Democrats leave the state?

Texas’ constitution requires two-thirds of the state’s 150 House members to be present to conduct business. That gives the 62-member House Democratic minority a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency option to grind the Capitol’s business to a halt even if they would be outnumbered on an up-or-down vote.

By absconding from Austin — and the state altogether — Democrats ensured that the Legislature lacked a quorum to convene for a special session called by Abbott to address redistricting. There is some recent history on this: Democrats mounted a similar effort to “break quorum” in 2021 in protest of election-related legislation. The effort ended after Democrats gradually trickled back into the state, amid a similar flurry of arrest threats and lawsuits.

Importantly, breaking quorum is not a crime. However, if the absentee Democratic lawmakers remained in Texas, Abbott could order state troopers to haul them to the Capitol. That’s why they fled for the friendlier confines of Illinois and other blue states, where Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker and other allies have vowed to shelter them from Texas’ demands to bring them back.

What are Abbott’s legal options?

Federal laws allow states to demand the return, or “extradition,” of criminal fugitives from other states. But because breaking quorum is not illegal, Abbott can’t seek help from the courts to compel the Democrats’ return.

Instead, Abbott threatened to take another action against the absentee lawmakers: Ask Texas courts to remove them from office altogether. State law permits a Texas district court to determine whether a public official has “abandoned” his or her office, declaring it vacant — enabling the governor to set new elections to fill the empty seats.

“Come and take it,” dared state Rep. Gene Wu, the Texas House Democratic Caucus leader, in an appearance Monday morning on BLN. Wu declared Abbott’s threat to be “all bluster.”

The governor’s threat is rooted in a nonbinding legal opinion issued in 2021 by Attorney General Ken Paxton, amid the last attempt by Democrats to break quorum. Paxton, notably, took no position on whether breaking quorum is constitutional.

The republican AG also declined to say whether fleeing Democrats could or should be removed from office. Rather, he called it a “fact question for a court” that he said was beyond the scope of his office to decide. He noted instead that he could file what are known as “quo warranto actions” in court, asking a judge to determine whether the missing lawmakers had officially vacated their seats.

How would a judge make that call? Paxton said he wasn’t certain.

“We find no constitutional provision or statute establishing an exhaustive list for why a vacancy occurs or the grounds under which an officer may be judicially removed from office,” he wrote.

How long could it take Abbott to force the Legislature back into session?

This is the most uncertain aspect of Abbott’s gambit. Paxton’s office would need to file “quo warranto” actions in various judicial districts for more than 50 fleeing lawmakers. Judges may take up these cases on different timelines and reach different conclusions, requiring appeals that could wind their way to the Texas Supreme Court.

Paxton acknowledged in an interview with conservative podcaster Benny Johnson that the timeline would be problematic.

“The challenge is that [it] wouldn’t necessarily be an immediate answer, right?” he said. “We’d have to go through the court process, and we’d have to file … in districts that are not friendly to Republicans,” Paxton said. “So it’s a challenge because every, every district would be different. We’d have to go sue in every legislator’s home district to try to execute on that idea.”

And even if Abbott and Paxton win a clean sweep in removing the Democrats from office, it would then require a time-intensive process of calling special elections to fill the vacancies — and guaranteeing that the winners of those elections also remain in the state as well.

That timing matters when the GOP-led redistricting plan is on a fixed timeline: A new map must be adopted by early December in order to be in place for the 2026 midterm cycle. That would require Democrats to remain out of state for about four months while they accumulate $500-per-day civil fines. The current special Legislative session is slated to end on Aug. 19, but Abbott could call another one.

Could the Democrats be charged with crimes?

Abbott’s letter, though sharply critical, stopped short of actually accusing Democrats of breaking the law. Rather, he suggested that if outsiders are helping them fundraise to cover their fines, they might run afoul of bribery laws.

“It would be bribery if any lawmaker took money to perform or to refuse to perform an act in the legislature,” Abbott said in a Fox News interview Monday. “And the reports are these legislators have both sought money and offered money to skip the vote, to leave the legislature, to take a legislative act.”

If Texas prosecutors in fact level any such charges, then Abbott’s authority to return them grows stronger. He could then ask courts in Texas and Illinois to seek the return of the missing lawmakers.

“I will use my full extradition authority to demand the return to Texas of any potential out-of-state felons,” he said in his Sunday statement.

Liz Crampton contributed reporting.

Politics

The newest GOP campaign surrogates: Confused tourists at Waffle House

Published

44 minutes ago

June 25, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

If you’ve spent any time on social media recently, you’ve run across the deluge of videos from World Cup tourists celebrating the wonders of the United States. The top Republican in Congress is taking these visual love letters as a validation of his party’s agenda.

“Thanks to social media, we’re seeing a lot of these; this has been encouraging to see the visitors appreciate what we have,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday. “Dutch travelers are in Buc-ees; German players took a midnight trip to the Waffle House. They’re the greatest thing you’ve ever seen. English fans are roaming the Everglades. Japanese tourists marveling over free chips and salsa at a Mexican restaurant in Texas.”

Johnson did not really contend with an undercurrent of these videos — that visitors were expecting something far different, and far less alluring, in their American travels — as he cited them in his election-season messaging about “the socialist takeover of the Democrat Party.”

“What a split screen we’re seeing right now. We’re triumphantly hosting the World Cup games all around the country, and we’re seeing people from different countries come and get a little taste of America, a little taste of freedom, of our culture and our society. And they appreciate it so much more than these socialists running for Congress,” he continued. “Sadly, many of these Democrat candidates and their voters just don’t have the same zeal and affection for America.”

Although few of these latter-day de Tocquevilles cite politics as they marvel at America’s bounty — including Freddy, the footloose German fan who has been invited to the White House — Johnson cited their enthusiasm as endorsement of his policy agenda.

“They’re seeing for themselves the genius of America’s system,” the speaker said. “A system that rewards risk takers and entrepreneurs and job creators and innovators, and people who create jobs for others and expand the economy and opportunity and broaden the pathway out of poverty for more people. That’s what the Republicans stand for.”

Politics

For South Korean men, there’s only one uniform that matters

Published

2 hours ago

June 25, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

SEOUL — Few subjects can provoke stronger reactions in South Korea than the issue of mandatory military service. So when two Korean reporters were caught on camera last week making demeaning comments about team captain Son Heung-min’s lack of service, it touched a national nerve.

“Is he running around like a platoon leader because he’s the captain?” they mocked, pointing out that he knew nothing about warfare because of a service waiver granted after he led the national team to an Asian Games gold medal in 2018.

Son is no ordinary athlete, despite controversially starting last night’s match against South Africa from the bench. He is a global soccer superstar, often described as Asia’s greatest-ever player. The perception of him as a trustworthy and well-respected national figure can be seen in his endorsements, including as a brand ambassador for Hana Bank.

And so the backlash against the reporters was swift: The disparagement of the beloved athlete was widely criticized, and South Korea’s national team is now boycotting Korean media interviews. That news alone has made headlines in the country, since the national team has effectively cut off access to domestic reporters as they compete in the biggest sporting event on the planet, limiting their interactions to FIFA-required media appearances. It’s a reminder of how sensitive the military service issue remains, even when the underlying rules have long been settled.

At least 18 months of military service is required for every able-bodied man in South Korea. For many, the mandatory sacrifice inevitably creates frustration toward those who are exempted from it — including elite athletes and entertainers, Koreans with foreign citizenship and disabled citizens.

Nearly two decades ago, those exemptions exploded into the spotlight when the 2002 South Korean squad became the nation’s first and only World Cup team to receive military exemptions for its tournament performance, after its historic fourth-place finish. The backlash was overwhelming in subsequent years — Koreans saw the growing range of sports exemptions as unfair, and as a result, the government dropped World Cup-related exemptions in 2008. Despite the policy change, however, the bitterness surrounding military exemption still haunts the sport.

Today, athletes can still qualify for alternative service through achievements such as winning an Olympic medal or a gold medal at the Asian Games. It’s why Son’s military exemption, which replaces full active-duty service with three weeks of basic military training and alternative services, shouldn’t — in theory — be controversial.

But because nearly all able-bodied men are required by law to serve, questions surrounding who receives special treatment continue to generate intense public scrutiny. Even around the time Son received his exemption in 2018, an online survey showed that 74 percent of participating voters thought that military exemptions should be abolished for athletic and artistic achievements.

Politics

Black, red and complicated

Published

2 hours ago

June 25, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

BERLIN — Across most countries in this year’s World Cup, the national flag is a natural way to support the home team.

In Germany, it’s… complicated.

There is plenty of excitement about the German team surging through Group E: One Berlin bakery chain is advertising slices of black, red and gold cake; shops are hawking tricolor plastic leis, noisemakers and face paint; fans gathering to watch the games don German team jerseys.

But as Germany takes the field against Ecuador today, what is less visible around the country is the black, red and gold of the German flag. That’s because, for the last eight decades, Germany has had a deeply complex relationship with its own national symbols and the concept of national pride.

After the Nazi defeat in World War II, expressions of national pride were taboo in Germany. Instead, the country’s postwar leaders promoted Verfassungspatriotismus, or constitutional patriotism: a sense of pride in postwar Germany’s commitment to democracy and the rule of law. By contrast, overt national pride was largely the remit of the far- and extreme right — so much so that a slogan from the neo-Nazi NPD party in the early 2000s, deeply controversial at the time, was Ich bin stolz, ein Deutscher zu sein (“I’m proud to be German”).

Then came the Sommermärchen (“summer fairy tale”) of 2006, when Germany hosted its first World Cup since unification and found itself uncommonly awash in black, red and gold. A German friend once quipped that, before that year, if you saw a house flying a German flag you knew the person living there was a neo-Nazi; afterwards; they could be a neo-Nazi or a soccer fan.

“2006 was a coming-out moment for Germany,” said Sudha David-Wilp, a Berlin-based vice president and senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund. “It allowed Germans to feel comfortable in their national skin and to unfurl their flag.”

That growing embrace of sports-related patriotism has been complicated in recent years by the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, which has co-opted the flag and favors jettisoning the country’s postwar memory culture to make way for vocal national pride. Its leaders have accused other political parties of being insufficiently patriotic, including during a recent dustup over whether AfD parliamentarians were allowed to let the German flag wave from the windows of their Bundestag offices during a far-right protest.

“The German flag plays a central role in the aesthetics of [the AfD’s] political communication,” said Johannes Hillje, a Berlin-based political consultant who tracks far- and extreme-right rhetoric in Germany. “Part of the AfD’s communication strategy is to reinterpret national symbols and general terms such as ‘homeland,’ ‘nation,’ and ‘patriotism’ in line with its far-right ideology.”

With the AfD leading in national polls, politicians from left-leaning parties have expressed unease with the overt symbolism of waving the German flag. The Left Party advertised a World Cup watch party with the tagline, “No flags, no nationalism, no stress!”

And Philipp Türmer, leader of the youth wing of the center-left Social Democrats, told Spiegel he would gladly wear a German jersey but couldn’t imagine himself waving the flag: “I’ve spent too much time in my life at counter-protests where the [fascists] on the other side of the police barricade decked themselves out in black, red and gold,” he said.

Both the shift toward expressing more national pride and the AfD’s strong association with it were apparent in polling among the German electorate. Sixty percent of German respondents surveyed for this month’s POLITICO Poll said they were very or somewhat proud to be German, compared with 32 percent who said they were not that proud or not at all proud. At the same time, just 30 percent said they owned a German flag and 24 percent said they had clothing with the German flag on it.

And asked to name the political party they most identify with someone saying they are proud of Germany, 35 percent named the AfD, more than twice the figure for any other party.

German captain Joshua Kimmich told Bild ahead of his team’s first match against Curaçao that he hoped the World Cup would be an opportunity to encourage a new kind of “positive patriotism” in Germany — one distinct from the version pushed by the far right.

“Our team can be a model for that,” he said. “If you look at our team, we already have many players with different backgrounds, different religions and from different parts of society. We want to be successful together.”