{"id":2472788,"date":"2025-08-09T13:22:01","date_gmt":"2025-08-09T17:22:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/texas-house-blocks-pay-for-awol-dems-abbott-warns-gop-could-go-even-bigger\/"},"modified":"2025-08-09T13:23:28","modified_gmt":"2025-08-09T17:23:28","slug":"texas-house-blocks-pay-for-awol-dems-abbott-warns-gop-could-go-even-bigger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/texas-house-blocks-pay-for-awol-dems-abbott-warns-gop-could-go-even-bigger\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas House Blocks Pay for AWOL Dems, Abbott Warns GOP Could Go Even Bigger"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftexas-house-blocks-pay-for-awol-dems-abbott-warns-gop-could-go-even-bigger%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2472788&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses the ongoing standoff in the Texas State House, where Democratic lawmakers have fled the state to break quorum and block the passage of a Republican-led redistricting plan that would possibly increase GOP seats in Congress. While democrats are in the minority, their absence stalls legislative business during a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/texas-legislators-commence-special-session\/\" title=\"... legislators commence special session\">special session called<\/a> by Governor Greg Abbott.<\/p>\n<p>In response, Texas Republicans, including House Speaker Dustin Burrows, have taken measures such as suspending direct deposit of lawmakers&#8217; paychecks until a quorum is restored. Additionally, threats are being made to strip absent Democrats of perks like seniority, parking spots, and committee chairmanships.<\/p>\n<p>Governor Abbott has warned that if Democrats continue their absence, he will expand the redistricting plan to favor Republicans even more, potentially increasing GOP seats from five to eight. Abbott also criticized the Democrats&#8217; walkout as childish and argued that this tactic only strengthens Republican support in Texas. The FBI has indicated it will cooperate with Texas officials to locate the missing Democratic lawmakers.<\/p>\n<p>Abbott further used the situation to highlight what he sees as widespread gerrymandering in Democrat-controlled states, contrasting it with Texas&#8217;s efforts. the article portrays an intensifying political battle in Texas with Republicans applying pressure to force Democrats back to work and pass the contested redistricting legislation.  <\/p>\n<div id=\"ld-4686-3758\"><\/div>\n<p><script>(function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:14832835450050406,size:[0, 0],id:\"ld-4686-3758\"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src=\"https:\/\/cdn2.decide.dev\/_js\/ajs.js\";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,\"script\",\"ld-ajs\");<\/script><\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>As Texas State House Democrats continue to be anywhere but Austin, Republicans are turning up the heat.<\/p>\n<p>Although the Democrats are a minority in the Texas Legislature, their absence prevents the body from having a quorum, which means no business gets done in a special session called to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-ken-paxton-moves-to-strip-seats-from-absentee-texas-democrats-in-historic-lawsuit\/\" title=\"BREAKING: Ken Paxton Moves to Strip ... from Absentee ... ... in Historic Lawsuit\">pass redistricting legislation<\/a> that would put Democrats in a deeper hole in Congress.<\/p>\n<p>Even if Democrats run out the clock for which the session was called, Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has the power to call more special sessions.<\/p>\n<p>On Friday, Texas Republican House Speaker Dustin Burrows said that as long as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/trump-delivers-bad-news-absconded-texas-democrats-cant-just-sit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Democrats<\/a> remain absent, they will have to actually show up to collect their paychecks.<\/p>\n<p>Direct deposit will be paused until a quorum in the House exists, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/kfoxtv.com\/news\/nation-world\/texas-democrats-pressured-to-return-no-direct-deposit-allowed-for-quorum-breaking-members-redistricting-governor-abbott-fbi-kash-patel-house-speaker-dustin-burrows-president-donald-trump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">KFOX-TV<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">HOLY CRAP! The Texas House is REVOKING the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >automatic check deposit ability<\/a> of ANY Dem who didn&rsquo;t appear solely to break quorum.<\/p>\n<p>They have to appear on the grounds to obtain their pay.<\/p>\n<p>This is how you do it! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Ddq6NgV3oR\">pic.twitter.com\/Ddq6NgV3oR<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Gunther Eagleman&trade; (@GuntherEagleman) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GuntherEagleman\/status\/1953882113826009553?\">August 8, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Although it remains unclear who has the power to do what, the FBI has said it will work with Texas officials to locate Democrats who fled the state.<\/p>\n<p>One legislator said a war on perks of the job may be in the near future.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This hasn&rsquo;t dropped yet, but I have heard that they could lose their seniority, parking spots, chairmanships. I think that&rsquo;s next on the books,&rdquo; Republican State Rep. Shelley Luther said, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wfaa.com\/article\/news\/politics\/inside-politics\/texas-politics\/republican-democrats-left-texas-could-lose-seniority-chairmanships-parking-spots\/287-7a00f2f2-b51d-4685-9e7f-1200183c5394\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WFAA-TV.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Abbott said the redistricting plan that could give the GOP five more House seats may undergo some revisions Democrats will find even more distasteful than the current plan upon which they do not want to vote.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;What I&rsquo;m thinking now is that if they don&rsquo;t start showing up, I may start expanding,&rdquo; Abbott said, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/gov-greg-abbott-threatens-redistrict-8-seats-gop-dem-lawmakers-dont-return-texas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fox News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We may make it six or seven or eight new seats we&rsquo;re going to be adding on the Republican side,&rdquo; he hinted.<\/p>\n<p>Abbott said Democrats <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/breaking-ken-paxton-moves-strip-seats-absentee-texas-democrats-historic-lawsuit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">will lose<\/a> their battle sooner or later.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;re going to come back, or we&rsquo;ll be able to track them down. One way or the other, they&rsquo;re coming back, and it&rsquo;s going to end with these maps being passed,&rdquo; Abbott said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;How embarrassing is that?&rdquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/truancy-ends-now-texas-gov-greg-abbott-issues-ultimatum-democratic-lawmakers-fled-state\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Abbott<\/a> said of the tactic.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s something that school kids do, you know, &lsquo;I&rsquo;m losing the game! I&rsquo;m just gonna walk away and leave.&rsquo; That&rsquo;s not the way adults operate. It&rsquo;s not the way that employees operate. But know this, Texans, that&rsquo;s the way your Texas Democrats operate, and that&rsquo;s exactly why more and more Texans are voting Republican than ever before,&rdquo; he continued.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">&#128680; HUGE NEWS: Texas Governor Greg Abbott threatens to INCREASE the US House redistricting gain for Republicans from 5 to *8* SEATS if Democrats don&rsquo;t come back and allow a quorum.<\/p>\n<p>LMAO. So their antics are only making it worse &#129315;<\/p>\n<p>THAT&rsquo;S how you respond.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;What I&rsquo;m thinking now&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/sqiUX4f4vB\">pic.twitter.com\/sqiUX4f4vB<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/EricLDaugh\/status\/1953855994775085516?\">August 8, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Abbott said the stunt has shown to the nation how much <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/george-soros-fingerprints-dem-walkout-texas-now-investigated\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Democrat-run states<\/a> ensure redistricting artificially props up the Democrats in Congress.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Americans have now realized how gerrymandered all these blue states are,&rdquo; Abbott said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;They now see that map in Illinois, they&rsquo;ve seen the map in New York, they see that 40% of the people in Massachusetts voted for President Trump, and yet there are zero Republican congressional districts there,&rdquo; Abbott noted. &ldquo;Look at what happened in California. The worst examples of gerrymandering are Democrat states. And now Americans have realized that.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As Texas State House Democrats remain absent from Austin, Republicans are increasing pressure. Though Democrats are a minority in the Texas Legislature, their absence blocks a quorum, halting progress in a special session aimed at passing redistricting laws that would disadvantage Democrats further<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2472789,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Abbott-Texas.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[3697,60979,6203,3653,3694],"class_list":["post-2472788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-abbott","tag-awol-democrats","tag-gop","tag-house","tag-texas"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Abbott-Texas.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2472788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2472788"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2472788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2472792,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2472788\/revisions\/2472792"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2472789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2472788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2472788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2472788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}