Mr Trump said the FBI could intervene to arrest Democratic lawmakers in Texas who left the state to prevent Republicans from redrawing the electoral map.
“They may have to do that,” US President Donald Trump said on August 5 when a Fox News reporter asked whether the government and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were planning to intervene to locate and arrest more than 50 Democratic lawmakers who had fled Texas.
According to Mr. Trump, many people have asked these congressmen to return, including the Attorney General and the Governor of Texas. “You can’t just stand aside, you have to come back and fight to the end. That’s the meaning of the election,” Mr. Trump told the Democratic congressmen.
Texas Republicans on July 30 announced a new electoral map proposal in the state, which would adjust the boundaries of five voting districts. This adjustment would increase the Republican Party’s chances of winning five more seats in the US House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections, helping to consolidate its narrow majority in the federal legislature.
Republicans hold a majority in both houses of the Texas legislature, meaning the new map will be approved if it is voted on August 5. However, the move has been met with fierce opposition from Democrats, sparking a confrontation between lawmakers from both sides. As a result, 57 Democratic lawmakers chose to evacuate Texas on the afternoon of August 3, most choosing to go to Illinois, while others chose Massachusetts or New York, which have Democratic leaders.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican and ally of President Trump, announced on August 4 that he had “directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to locate, arrest and return to the state House the lawmakers who abandoned their duty to the people of Texas.”
The Texas attorney general said the lawmakers “should be found and brought back, wherever they are.” The warrants are only valid in Texas, meaning the Democrats will only be arrested when they return home. However, since the FBI is a federal agency, it can pursue lawmakers in other states if it has a warrant.
“I think they abandoned the state. Nobody’s ever seen anything like it, even though they’ve done it twice. In a way, they abandoned the state. It’s terrible,” Mr. Trump added.
US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC on August 5. Photo: AFP
Asked if he thought the Texas redistricting plan would prompt Democratic-leaning states to take similar action in response, Mr Trump replied, “they’re going to do it anyway.”
“The Democrats were doing it long before we started. They were doing it everywhere, including New York,” Trump added.
The president praised Texas’ redistricting plan, saying it was “very popular.” He also praised Governor Abbott, saying the plan’s future depends on his leadership.
Meanwhile, former President Barack Obama criticized the redistricting plan in Texas. “Right now, Republicans in Texas are trying to manipulate congressional district boundaries to unfairly win five seats in next year’s midterm elections. This is a power grab and a destruction of our democracy,” Obama posted on X.
Governor Abbott filed an emergency petition with the state Supreme Court on August 5 to remove Representative Gene Wu, one of those who left the state. The lawsuit argues that Wu, the Democratic leader of the Texas House of Representatives, violated the state constitution and that his absence constitutes a resignation from office.
Mr. Wu has not yet commented on the Governor’s move.
