Texas governor asks court to remove House Democratic leader from office over walkout

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday asked the state's highest court to remove the Democratic House leader from office, escalating efforts to end the holdout that is blocking redrawn U.S. House maps sought by President Donald Trump.

Bypassing lower courts, Abbott filed a rare emergency petition straight to the all-Republican Texas Supreme Court just three days into a walkout by Democrats. It hinges on a legal theory that even some Republicans have acknowledged is untested, arguing that absent legislators have effectively forfeited their seats by not returning to the Texas Capitol.

The move intensifies Republicans' attempts to compel dozens of Democrats back to Texas, including signing civil arrest warrants and mobilizing state troopers. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn asked the FBI earlier Tuesday to help find and arrest Democrats, and Trump later told reporters that federal agents “may have to” get involved, though he did not elaborate.

“Texas House Democrats abandoned their duty to Texans, and there must be consequences,” Abbott said.

The lawsuit from Abbott, a former state Supreme Court justice, seeks the removal of state House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rep. Gene Wu, who is one of dozens of members of his caucus staying in Chicago. The governor asked the court to respond by Thursday.

Wu, a former prosecutor in Houston, said leaving Texas to halt the maps was not “an abandonment of my office” but a fulfillment of his 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,” he said.

Republicans face barriers to following through on their threats — just as Democrats still have obstacles in the way of stopping Republicans from ultimately approving the map sought by Trump to shore up his party’s 2026 midterm prospects.

Legal experts and even Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton say it would be difficult to enforce consequences against the Democratic lawmakers while they are safely camped out in sympathetic Democratic-controlled states and effectively out of reach of Texas law enforcement looking to bring them home.

Paxton, who is running for U.S. Senate against Cornyn in the 2026 GOP primary, threw out some of the earliest calls for arrests. But even he has called enforcing the various threats “a challenge.”

“Until they show up themselves back in Texas, sometimes it's hard to actually execute on that," Paxton said in interview with conservative podcaster Benny Johnson.

By leaving Texas for Illinois, New York and Massachusetts, the Democrats prevented the 150-member state House of Representatives from reaching a quorum for a scheduled vote on the new U.S. House voting map. Trump hopes to pick up five Republican seats from Texas in 2026.

Republicans hold an 88-62 majority in the House, and the Texas Constitution requires at least 100 members be present to do business. With at least 51 Democrats absent, the House failed to reach a quorum Monday and again Tuesday.

The current special session ends Aug. 20 but Abbott can keep calling lawmakers back to the Capitol to pass the redistricting bill.

Following a walkout by Texas Democrats in 2021, Paxton issued a nonbinding legal opinion that argued the state could sue the lawmakers to have their seats declared vacated. This week, Paxton said that could be a long process that would require individual lawsuits filed against each missing lawmaker, sometimes in district courts he said would not be friendly to Republicans.

Still, Paxton said Tuesday that he will press ahead with lawsuits if lawmakers don't return by Friday.

“We'll see where it goes,” Republican state Sen. Charles Perry said. "It’s a tall order to remove an elected official from the Legislature.”

Abbott also ordered the Texas Rangers to investigate possible bribery charges related to how the Democrats are paying for their quorum break, alleging anyone who financially helped them leave the state could be culpable.

State Rep. James Talarico, one of the Democrats who left, encouraged donations to support their effort.

“And that’s appropriate because this fight is for the people and it should be funded by the people,” he said.

David Froomkin, an assistant law professor at the University of Houston Law Center, said the removal effort and bribery charges would be on weak legal ground, and the threats of arrests and investigations are more likely meant to intimidate.

“It’s much more aggressive hardball than we have seen in battles over the quorum requirement,” Froomkin said. “In general in this country today, we’re seeing incumbents be much more inclined to make aggressive use of their power in order to try to maintain their power."

This story restores a dropped word to correct a statement from Rep. Gene Wu. He said leaving the state was not “an abandonment of my office," instead of an abandonment.

Nadia Lathan in Austin, John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, and Joey Cappelletti in Washington contributed.

CORRECTS CITY TO AURORA, ILL., Texas Rep. Gene Wu speaks as Illinois Governor JB Pritzker looks on during a news conference in Aurora, Ill,, on Tuesday, Aug 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Texas Rep. Al Green, left, and State Representative Ramon Romero, Jr. talk after a news conference in Aurora, Ill., on Tuesday, Aug 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Texas State Rep. Barbara Gervin-Haskins speaks during a news conference in Aurora, Ill., on Tuesday, Aug 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Texas Rep. Richard Peña Raymond, D-Laredo, left, shares a laugh with Rep. John Lujan, R-San Antonio, as they enter the House chambers of the State Capitol at the Texas Capitol, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Rodolfo Gonzalez)

Empty chairs belonging to House Democrats remain empty during a session convocation in the State Capitol, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Rodolfo Gonzalez)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Most American presidents aspire to the kind of greatness that prompts future generations to name important things in their honor.

Donald Trump isn't leaving it to future generations.

As the first year of his second term wraps up, his Republican administration and allies have put his name on the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Kennedy Center performing arts venue and a new class of battleships that's yet to be built.

That’s on top of the “Trump Accounts” for tax-deferred investments, the TrumpRx government website soon to offer direct sales of prescription drugs, the “Trump Gold Card” visa that costs at least $1 million and the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, a transit corridor included in a deal his administration brokered between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

On Friday, he attended a ceremony at his Florida home to mark the renaming of a 4-mile (6-kilometer) stretch of road from the airport to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach as President Donald J. Trump Boulevard.

“That’s a very important stretch," Trump said as he thanked local officials for the dedication.

“When people see that the beautiful sign is all lit up nice at night and it says ‘Donald J. Trump Boulevard,’ they’ll be filled with pride. Just pride," Trump said. “Not in me. Pride in our country.”

It’s unprecedented for a sitting president to embrace tributes of that number and scale, especially those proffered by members of his administration. And while past sitting presidents have typically been honored by local officials naming schools and roads after them, it's exceedingly rare for airports, federal buildings, warships or other government assets to be named for someone still in power.

“At no previous time in history have we consistently named things after a president who was still in office,” said Jeffrey Engel, the David Gergen Director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. “One might even extend that to say a president who is still alive. Those kind of memorializations are supposed to be just that — memorials to the passing hero.”

White House spokeswoman Liz Huston said the TrumpRx website linked to the president's deals to lower the price of some prescription drugs, along with “overdue upgrades of national landmarks, lasting peace deals, and wealth-creation accounts for children are historic initiatives that would not have been possible without President Trump’s bold leadership.”

"The Administration’s focus isn’t on smart branding, but delivering on President Trump’s goal of Making America Great Again," Huston said.

The White House pointed out that the nation's capital was named after President George Washington and the Hoover Dam was named after President Herbert Hoover while each was serving as president.

For Trump, it’s a continuation of the way he first etched his place onto the American consciousness, becoming famous as a real estate developer who affixed his name in big gold letters on luxury buildings and hotels, a casino and assorted products like neckties, wine and steaks.

As he ran for president in 2024, the candidate rolled out Trump-branded business ventures for watches, fragrances, Bibles and sneakers — including golden high tops priced at $799. After taking office again last year, Trump's businesses launched a Trump Mobile phone company, with plans to unveil a gold-colored smartphone and a cryptocurrency memecoin named $TRUMP.

That’s not to be confused with plans for a physical, government-issued Trump coin that U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach said the U.S. Mint is planning.

Trump has also reportedly told the owners of Washington’s NFL team that he would like his name on the Commanders’ new stadium. The team’s ownership group, which has the naming rights, has not commented on the idea. But a White House spokeswoman in November called the proposed name “beautiful” and said Trump made the rebuilding of the stadium possible.

The addition of Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center in December so outraged independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont that he introduced legislation this week to ban the naming or renaming of any federal building or land after a sitting president — a ban that would retroactively apply to the Kennedy Center and Institute of Peace.

“I think he is a narcissist who likes to see his name up there. If he owns a hotel, that’s his business,” Sanders said in an interview. “But he doesn’t own federal buildings.”

Sanders likened Trump's penchant for putting his name on government buildings and more to the actions of authoritarian leaders throughout history.

“If the American people want to name buildings after a president who is deceased, that’s fine. That’s what we do,” Sanders said. “But to use federal buildings to enhance your own position very much sounds like the ‘Great Leader’ mentality of North Korea, and that is not something that I think the American people want.”

Although some of the naming has been suggested by others, the president has made clear he’s pleased with the tributes.

Three months after the announcement of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, a name the White House says was proposed by Armenian officials, the president gushed about it at a White House dinner.

“It’s such a beautiful thing, they named it after me. I really appreciate it. It’s actually a big deal,” he told a group of Central Asian leaders.

Engel, the presidential historian, said the practice can send a signal to people "that the easiest way to get access and favor from the president is to play to his ego and give him something or name something after him.”

Some of the proposals for honoring Trump include legislation in Congress from New York Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney that would designate June 14 as “Trump’s Birthday and Flag Day," placing the president with the likes of Martin Luther King Jr., George Washington and Jesus Christ, whose birthdays are recognized as national holidays.

Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steube has introduced legislation that calls for the Washington-area rapid transit system, known as the Metro, to be renamed the “Trump Train.” North Carolina Republican Rep. Addison McDowell has introduced legislation to rename Washington Dulles International Airport as Donald J. Trump International Airport.

McDowell said it makes sense to give Dulles a new name since Trump has already announced plans to revamp the airport, which currently is a tribute to former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles.

The congressman said he wanted to honor Trump because he feels the president has been a champion for combating the scourge of fentanyl, a personal issue for McDowell after his brother’s overdose death. But he also cited Trump’s efforts to strike peace deals all over the world and called him “one of the most consequential presidents ever.”

“I think that’s somebody that deserves to be honored, whether they’re still the president or whether they’re not," he said.

More efforts are underway in Florida, Trump’s adopted home.

Republican state lawmaker Meg Weinberger said she is working on an effort to rename Palm Beach International Airport as Donald J. Trump International Airport, a potential point of confusion with the Dulles effort.

The boulevard dedicated to Trump on Friday is not the first Florida asphalt to herald Trump upon his return to the White House.

In the south Florida city of Hialeah, officials in December 2024 renamed a street there as President Donald J. Trump Avenue.

Trump, speaking at a Miami business conference the next month, called it a “great honor” and said he loved the mayor for it.

“Anybody that names a boulevard after me, I like,” he said.

He added a few moments later: “A lot of people come back from Hialeah, they say, ‘They just named a road after you.' I say, ‘That’s OK.’ It’s a beginning, right? It’s a start.”

Supporters wave flags as President Donald Trump motorcades through West Palm Beach, Fla., along Southern Boulevard, the stretch of road being dedicated to him, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Attendees wait for President Donald Trump to arrive at a dedication ceremony for a portion of Southern Boulevard, which the Town of Palm Beach Council recently voted to rename,"President Donald J. Trump Boulevard," Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

FILE - A sign for the Rose Garden is seen near the Presidential Walk of Fame on the Colonnade at the White House, Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

FILE - President Donald Trump speaks with reporters as a flag pole is installed on the South Lawn of the White House, June 18, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

FILE - Workers add President Donald Trump's name to the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, after a Trump-appointed board voted to rename the institution, in Washington, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - A poster showing the Trump Gold Card is seen as President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, Sept. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, file)