Texas Democrats: Flight to Washington D.C.

On July 12, 2021, 60 Texas Democratic House of Representatives and 7 other Democrats flew to Washington D.C. amid the 87th Texas Legislature’s special session, resulting in decorum. Under the Texas Legislature, both the Senate and House chambers require two-third of the members to establish a quorum. Quorum is the minimum number of members required in an assembly to conduct official business. Since 60 Democratic representatives from Texas left the state, the quorum was invalid in the House chamber as the threshold of 100 out of 150 members was not met. The action taken by the Texas Democrats was soon applauded by Vice President Kamala Harris in her interview with Reuters, “I applaud what they are doing. They are part of the legacy of people who, for generations, sadly have had to fight for all Americans’ right to vote, some of whom have died in that pursuit.” Many on the left applauded Texas Democrat’s flight to D.C., while many on the right criticized the Texas Democrats for abandoning their work in the Texas Legislature. The reason for the Democrats abandoning the special session for D.C. was to invalidate the Republican-backed Voting Bill, which would make voting more secure according to Texas Republicans. However, the Texas Democrats argue that the Voting Bill SB1 targets voters who are more likely to vote for Democrats, and makes voting much more complex making it harder for Texans to initiate their right. Governor of Texas Greg Abbot called for the arrest of Texas Democrats who fled the special session, “As soon as they come back in the state of Texas, they will be arrested, they will be cabined inside the Texas capitol until they get their job done.” With mounting pressure on Joe Biden and the Democrats to pass the For the People Act, Joe Biden tackled the issue of election fraud conspiracies concocted by former president Donald Trump, “The ‘Big Lie’ is just that: a big lie.”