Abbott files petition to remove Rep. Gene Wu from office

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Gov. Greg Abbott filed an emergency petition Tuesday in the Texas Supreme Court, asking it to remove Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston. The petition comes after Wu’s move to break quorum by leaving the state over mid-decade redistricting, along with fellow Democrats.

In the statement, Abbott called Wu the “ringleader of the derelict Democrats.”

“This case is not a political dispute; it is a constitutional crisis,” the lawsuit reads. “The current Special Session is set to expire in just two weeks. But Wu apparently has no intention of returning. Instead, he claims the ‘special session is over.’ Permitting him to continue occupying his office so that he can abdicate the duties of that office will only enable future legislators to grind state government to a halt.”

Fifty-four Democrats were not present in the House chamber Tuesday as many have fled to states, like Illinois and New York. Abbott and House Speaker Dustin Burrows announced their intent to have the Department of Public Safety track down and arrest absent House Democrats. DPS does not have authority to make those arrests outside of Texas.

Wu released the following statement on the petition:

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. I took an oath to the constitution, not a politician’s agenda, and I will not be the one to break that oath.

Let me be unequivocal about my actions and my duty. When a governor conspires with a disgraced president to ram through a racist gerrymandered map, my constitutional duty is to not be a willing participant. When that governor holds disaster relief for 137 dead Texans and their families hostage, my moral duty is to sound the alarm — by any means necessary.

Denying the governor a quorum was not an abandonment of my office; it was a fulfillment of my oath. Unable to defend his corrupt agenda on its merits, Greg Abbott now desperately seeks to silence my dissent by removing a duly-elected official from office.

History will judge this moment. It will show a Governor who used the law as a weapon to silence his people, and it will show those of us who stood for a higher principle.

To Governor Abbott: You have failed the people of Texas, and you are using the courts to punish those who refused to fail with you. My purpose has been clear from the start: to serve my constituents and fight for what’s right, no matter the cost. You will find that my commitment to the people of Texas is unbreakable.”
Rep. Gene Wu

The petition is one of a few tactics Republicans are using to try and bring Democrats back to the state to pass a new congressional map, one which will benefit the GOP. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, asked FBI Director Kash Patel to intervene to track down and bring home Democratic lawmakers. President Donald Trump appeared to entertain the idea while taking questions, according to NBC.

“Well, I think they have abandoned the state. Nobody seen anything like it even though they’ve done it twice before. And in a certain way, it almost looks like they’ve abandoned the state looks very bad,” Trump told reporters Tuesday.

After singing civil arrest warrants and attempting to involve the FBI, Abbott is now following through with what was previously only a threat — removing Democrats from office. The governor likely does not have the authority alone to do so, and he is now getting the courts involved.