On August 3, 2025, Democratic members of the Texas House of Representatives left the state to prevent action on Congressional redistricting during a special legislative session.

On June 9, 2025, The New York Times’ J. David Goodman and Shane Goldmacher reported that President Donald Trump (R)’s team had reached out to Texas Republicans to add redistricting to the state’s special session. On July 9, 2025, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced that the legislature would take up redistricting as part of a special legislative session. In the proclamation for the session, Abbott wrote he would bring up redistricting “in light of constitutional concerns raised by the U.S. Department of Justice.”

According to The Texas Tribune’s Eleanor Klibanoff, the Department of Justice wrote the state concerning four districts. Klibanoff wrote that the DOJ said “the 9th, 18th and 33rd, were unconstitutional ‘coalition districts,’ where Black and Hispanic voters combine to form a majority. The 29th, while majority Hispanic, was also unconstitutional, the letter said, because it was created by its two neighbors being coalition districts.”

In response, Democrats considered a walkout to deny the House a quorum. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D) said, “We will make clear that we’re going to do everything possible to support the Texas legislators as they consider the best ways to push back. It’s an all-hands-on-deck moment, and all options should be on the table to protect the people of Texas.” In an X statement, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) wrote, “If Democrats ignore their duty to their constituents by breaking quorum, they should be found and arrested no matter where they go. The people of Texas elected them to do a job, not run away and hide like cowards.”

On August 3, Democratic members of the Texas House of Representatives left the state to prevent changes to the state’s congressional maps. In a statement on X, Rep. James Talarico (D) wrote, “My Democratic colleagues and I just left the state of Texas to break quorum and stop Trump’s redistricting power grab… It’s time to fight back.” In a statement, House Speaker Dustin Burrows (R) wrote, “If a quorum is not present then, to borrow the recent talking points from some of my Democrat colleagues, all options will be on the table.”

This walkout is the fourth walkout to occur in Texas in the 21st century. Texas Democrats previously walked out twice in 2021 to protest election legislation, and once in 2003 to protest mid-decade Congressional redistricting. Additionally, the walkout makes Texas the state with the second most walkouts, with four walkouts, behind Oregon, with six walkouts.