Democrats slammed Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, on Tuesday over his threat to arrest Democrats for breaking the quorum of the special session.
Abbott and state Republicans called the special session to pass a new election map and address issues stemming from the deadly floods that killed more than 130 people last month. Republicans are attempting to pass the new maps to fulfill one of President Donald Trump's wishes to have five more GOP-held seats in the state.
Democrats have fled to Illinois to prevent the legislative body from voting to approve the new maps, which they say will disenfranchise Latino voters.
Abbott filed an obscure Writ of Quo Warranto, which is meant to challenge a person's right to hold public office, with the state Supreme Court on Tuesday.
"Fearing one of the eighteen items on the Special Session agenda, Democrat members of the Texas House claim a right to abdicate their official duties by refusing to show up for work," Abbott's lawyers argued in the filing.
Several Democrats responded to Abbott's threat on social media.
"This office does not belong to Greg Abbott, and it does not belong to me. It belongs to the people of House District 137 who elected me," Texas Democrat Chair Gene Wu wrote in a statement posted on X. "I took an oath to the constitution, not a politician's agenda."
Lawyer Christian Menefee explained that Abbott doesn't have the authority to file the lawsuit. Only the Texas Attorney General or Deputy Attorney General does, he said.
"The Governor’s filing was astonishingly stupid," Menefee said in a post on X.