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Texas House Democrats return to the state, ending their quorum break, and board a bus to the Texas Capitol at Signature Aviation Austin, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025.<\/p>\n
Mikala Compton\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Texas House Democrats<\/a> penned a letter backing their Democratic counterparts<\/a> in Tennessee, condemning what they referred to as Republicans’ \u201cretaliation\u201d after GOP lawmakers stripped them<\/a> of their committee assignments following protests tied to a newly approved congressional map, which carves up a majority-Black district.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Thursday letter addressed to Tennessee House Democratic leader Karen Camper and House Democratic Caucus Chair John Ray Clemmons denounced the \u201cblatant discrimination\u201d \u00a0and \u00a0\u201cabuse of power\u201d against lawmakers who \u201crefused to sit silently while a Republican supermajority cuts apart Black political power in the middle of an election cycle.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n As of Thursday morning, more than 35 Texas House Democrats<\/a> had signed onto the letter.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cTexas Democrats know this pattern because we\u2019ve lived it. When lawmakers use every available tool to defend voting rights, the response is often punishment dressed up as procedure,\u201d state Rep. Mihaela Plesa (D-Dallas), whose idea it was to pen the letter, told the American-Statesman.<\/p>\n Plesa again echoed that the move to strip these Democrats of their positions in leadership was \u201cpolitical retribution.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cCommittee assignments are how legislators ask questions publicly, how they can amend legislation, how they can advocate for their district,\u201d Plesa said. \u201cSo, we\u2019re removing those lawmakers over political disagreement. That\u2019s a serious concern.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Tennessee takes a page out of Texas’ redistricting playbook\u00a0<\/p>\n Tennessee Republican lawmakers approved a new congressional map<\/a> last week that dismantled a Black-majority congressional district built around the predominantly Black city of Memphis. The vote is likely to flip the historically Democratic-held seat to Republicans in November.\u00a0<\/p>\n The approval of the new map did not go down without a fight. Activists and Democratic lawmakers alike protested, with visitors yelling from the gallery and legislators reportedly standing at the front of the chamber, linking arms in prayer, as air horns and chants rang out in the background.\u00a0<\/p>\n Those against the move to redistrict argue that it is akin to the Jim Crow era of racial discrimination.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton subsequently penned a letter to Camper<\/a>, notifying the leader that House Democrats would be removed from all standing committees and subcommittees as discipline for \u201cinstigating and encouraging\u201d disruptions and \u201cdisorder on the House floor.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Sexton\u2019s letter cited examples such as lawmakers’ \u201cinterlocking arms in the well of the House,\u201d \u201cblocking aisles on the House floor\u201d and using \u201cprohibited props and noisemakers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Democratic Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones, who is Black and represents Nashville,\u00a0posted on social media a <\/a>copy of a letter he received notifying him of his removal from committees and subcommittees.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the same pattern of racial discrimination and authoritarian abuse we have come to expect,\u201d Jones wrote. Notably, at one point during the protests,\u00a0Jones burned a printout of the Confederate flag<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Camper posted an open letter on Facebook<\/a> in response to the removals, describing the carving up of the Memphis-area congressional district as \u201cone of the most troubling abuses of power this legislature has seen in recent memory.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The Democratic leader said that when Democrats speak out and expose what is happening in the Tennessee House, the supermajority responds with \u201cretaliation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe are hurt. We are disappointed,\u201d Camper wrote. \u201cBut we are not intimidated.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The Tennessee House is a GOP stronghold, with 75 Republicans and 24 Democrats.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Democrats’ d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu<\/p>\n Texas Democrats faced similar punitive measures <\/a>as a result of their decision to break quorum to protest Republican- and Trump-backed redistricting in the Lone Star State.<\/p>\n More than 50 Texas Democrats were hit with thousands of dollars in fines imposed by Texas House Republicans. The roughly $9,000 bill Democrats<\/a> had to foot amounted to $500 per day for their absence and a reimbursement for the work to return them to Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last week, Texas House Democratic Caucus leader Gene Wu (D-Houston) confirmed he had paid his fine<\/a> and said that he and other caucus members decided to pay the fines rather than challenge them in a battle that would have been equally expensive.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/p>\n