Texas Rep. Nicole Collier refuses to leave House chambers

AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Democrats are back in Austin after they broke quorum two weeks ago in protest of the state’s redistricting plan. 

State Representative Nicole Collier refused to leave the House chambers on Monday. 

The move followed House Speaker Dustin Burrows’ announcement that the quorum-breaking legislators were not allowed to leave the chambers until they signed a document promising to be present when the House reconvenes on Wednesday morning. 

“Members who have not been present until today for whom arrest warrants were issued will be granted written permission to leave only after agreeing to be released into the custody of a designated DPS officer appointment,” said Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows. 

The piece of paper resembles a tardy note or permission slip one receives in school. Additionally, each democrat was assigned a Texas DPS Trooper to shadow them. 

“I refuse to sign,” said State Rep. Nicole Collier. “I will not agree to be in DPS custody. I’m not a criminal. I am exercising my right to resist and oppose the decisions of our government. So this is my form of protest.”

“This is my hall pass to be able to leave the Capitol, and I have a personal trooper,” said State Rep. Toni Rose. “He doesn’t wanna be on camera, but he’s standing right next to me.”

Texas Democrats return

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The Democrats received a warm welcome back from a group that was cheering at their arrival at the Capitol with posters and chants. 

Even though the Democratic Party does not stand a chance of outnumbering the Republican vote, the Democrats, however, still marked the stalemate as a win after gaining national attention and sinking the first special session. 

“Now that we have California backing us up, we try to get back here as fast as possible,” said State Representative Gene Wu. “With that margin of the safety, we can come back here and say, let’s stick this thing to court.”

Texas Democrats return to House

The quorum break at the Texas Capitol is over after a group of Democrat state lawmakers returned to Austin on Monday, August 18. This allows Republicans to jump start the second special session

On Friday, the state of California released its new voter maps, which would bolster the Democratic Party, with five additional seats in retaliation for Texas’s mid-decade decision. 

“We wanted to slow the process down, and we did that, and we also want to give other blue states opportunities to do something,” said State Rep. Rose. “As you can see in California, Governor Newsom has already unveiled some maps and other I’m looking at it too, so I have no regrets about my decision to cooperate.”

The GOP has a slim majority in the House, and President Donald Trump is likely trying to prevent what happened during his first term in office, when he lost that lead in the midterms. 

“The U.S. Supreme Court, as we’ve already talked in many, many hours, Rucho, says that jurisdiction may engage in constitutional political gerrymandering, recognizing that politics and political considerations are inseparable from districting and apportionment,” said State Representative Todd Hunter. “It says that you can use partisan interest.”

The action of sending five more Republicans to Washington by redrawing the lines provides that extra cushion to ensure the scales do not tip out of his favor come 2026.