Abbott asks the Texas Supreme Court to expel Gene Wu over the walkout

Gov. Abbott asked the Texas Supreme Court to remove Rep. Gene Wu from office — an unprecedented escalation — arguing that leaving the state to deny a quorum amounted to abandoning his seat. “What is at stake here?” Abbott wrote. “Nothing less than the future of Texas.”

Wu asked the court to throw the case out, noting he had not died, resigned, or been expelled by a two-thirds House vote — “he continues to carry out his legislative duties as his judgment dictates,” his lawyers wrote. Attorney General Ken Paxton then filed his own petition against 13 Democrats. Legal scholars were skeptical that breaking quorum could count as abandoning office.

I am aware of absolutely no authority that says breaking quorum is the same as the intent to abandon a seat. It’s inconsistent with the very text of the Texas Constitution. — Charles “Rocky” Rhodes, constitutional law scholar