The Irony of Texas Democrats’ “Cut and Execute” Tactics

The grounds surrounding the U.S. Capitol had only been open for a few days on Monday. So it was no surprise to see tourists and locals walking across the eastern front of the Capitol, touring the building, and asking a handful of TV crews who they were watching.

The answer was US senators on their way to a vote.

“See!” shouted a wandering teenage tourist, spotting a TV crew kit lying on the ground. “NBC News!”

“Is this the front or the back of the Capitol?” asked a man. “My wife said to meet her at a restaurant in front of the Capitol.”

The answer is that there is no “going back” to Capitol Hill. There are two fronts. The one on the western front looks at the National Mall. The other faces the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court.

“Is this where they attacked the building?” another passer-by asked.

Yes. But a full answer is that rioters attacked the entire Capitol on January 6.

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And then a tall man in a linen shirt passed by.

He looked around. Say hello. And continued on his way.

The man returned a few moments later. As usual, he asked what the TV news crews were doing there.

And then the man identified himself.

“I am one of the lawmakers in Texas,” he announced.

The man then rummaged in his pocket, unearthing his Texas lawmaker’s ID badge. Democrat Joe Deshotel of Port Arthur, Texas.

Deshotel is a wanted man – in addition to many other Texas State House Democrats.

Texas lawmakers fled Lone Star State to prevent the legislature from building a sufficient quorum to conduct business – let alone pass a new voting law. In a parliamentary version of Texas hold ’em, the State House ordered the Legislature’s Sergeant-at-Arms to “send for all absentees whose presence is not excused in order to secure and maintain their presence, under arrest warrant, if necessary. “

When the legislature issues such an arrest order, the Texas Rangers (not the baseball team) and other law enforcement agencies can potentially go anywhere in the heart of Texas to apprehend the victims. lawmakers on the run. But the long arm of Texas law only reaches the state border. These authorities have no power outside of Texas.

So, Texas Democrats fled to a safe haven: Washington, DC

“We have no input,” Deshotel grumbled about the GOP voting bill. “We’re at (Republicans) a warm body to make a quorum. They don’t ask for anything in our opinions. It’s like just ‘falling dead’.”

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Woody Allen said that “90% of successes in life just show up”. This other 10% must be does not show up prevent a legislature from conducting business. Most legislatures, from the US House and Senate to city councils, require a “quorum” (often a majority of all members) to meet. If you can’t come together, you can’t pass bills or laws.

“Texas lawmakers were making a statement,” said White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

Republicans denounced the bet.

“What if Republicans went en masse to Washington, DC, so they couldn’t form a quorum to advance to the Senate?” Asked Fox News contributor and former Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah. “Everyone would go crazy.”

Everything is bigger in Texas. Except when it comes to political power. It would be Washington, DC. Texas lawmakers therefore descended on Capitol Hill to meet with members of the Democratic House and Senators. They secured an audience with Vice President Kamala Harris.

“These lawmakers are great, they are brave and they are just fighting for the rights of every Texan, for the right to vote,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y.

Everything old is new again.

The Texas Democrats’ decision to leave Austin is a reminder that Texas lawmakers crippled the state legislature in 2003 by secretly flying to Oklahoma to block the quorum and avoid arrest. Texas State House was trying to approve a controversial congressional redistribution plan. Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, helped develop the redistribution cards that would cost Democrats multiple seats in the House.

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“It was a stunt back then, and it’s a stunt now,” said Senator John Cornyn, R-Texas.

The “cut and run” approach dates back to 1979. Twelve state senators went to AWOL for a few days to prevent the state from modifying the Texas primary system. These lawmakers were known as “The Killer Bees”.

Yet there is irony in the tactics of the Texas Democrats.

To witness it:

By ruling Austin out in favor of Washington, Democrats in Texas exploited a loophole in the Legislature’s quorum rules to block the bill from voting. Yet when lawmakers arrived on Capitol Hill, they implored U.S. Democratic senators to change their filibuster procedures to pass a bill they support.

Republicans found it a bit rich – especially after Senate Democrats embraced their Texas brethren’s campaign.

“Democratic Senate Majority Concerned About Minority Rights In Texas State [legislature]McConnell mused, “Live long enough and you’ll see anything around here. “

Some Democrats are now asking for a special “exclusion” for filibuster, especially for voting rights legislation. In other words, senators could still filibuster other types of legislation. But senators would raise the voting rights bills (or maybe this particular bill) to an elite, parliamentary pantheon, inoculated with the threat of systematic obstruction.

It is not clear exactly how an exclusion of voting rights can work. First of all, the Senate is not going to change its “rules” on obstruction. It’s too complicated. If they sued him, the Senate would likely set a new precedent for filibustering and passing legislation.

The Senate has already witnessed two exclusions concerning the filibuster:

In 2013, then Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Changed the precedent for filibustering for administration candidates except the Supreme Court. McConnell went beyond that by establishing new filibuster provisions for Supreme Court candidates in 2017, when he was majority leader.

The filibuster “carve out” who remained focused on legislation. In other words, senators from both parties have reduced filibustering to anything but the good old bills.

The pressure is now on for Schumer and the Democrats to move.

“As I said before, it’s all on the table,” Schumer said when asked about the demands of the Texas Democrats.

During an interview with NPR, Harris suggested she was working behind the scenes on the issue of obstruction voting rights.

“I’m definitely having conversations with people,” Harris said. “Obviously, all Senate Democrats will have to agree with this approach.”

Changing the Senate filibuster provisions requires 50 Democrats plus Harris, for a deciding vote. But some Democrats are wary of setting a new precedent for filibuster voting rights or anything.

“So we’re going to keep pushing,” Deshotel said of the Texas lawmakers’ quest. “We thought it was appropriate that we imposed on the White House the need to press harder.”

Texas Democrats met with Senator Joe Manchin, DW.Va., who opposes the filibuster amendment and the S.1 voting rights bill as drafted.

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Little change, despite this latest campaign of pressure. It comes down to math. And so far the math hasn’t worked to change the obstruction or move the ballot bill forward. Everyone in Washington has known this for a while.

In 2003, Texas lawmakers finally gave in. They scrambled from their temporary outposts in Oklahoma and returned to Austin. The Texas legislature eventually obtained a quorum and passed DeLay’s redistribution plan for the House.

The result of the Texas Voting Bill could be a done.

Or, as they would say in Texas, this isn’t their first rodeo.