The Texas Quorum Drama Isn’t New — Involving the FBI Is
Democratic lawmakers are following a time-honored American tradition in dodging votes by dodging town, but federal agents shouldn’t be part of the chase.
This isn’t the right place for this kind of help.
Photographer: Eric Lee/Getty Images North AmericaNow that an Illinois judge has rejected the effort to arrest Texas Democratic lawmakers who fled to deny the Republican legislative majority the quorum it needs to redraw the state’s electoral map, perhaps we can begin treating the episode less as a constitutional crisis and more as what it truly is: a recurring theme in the nation’s history.
First, as I’ve explained before, there’s nothing new about legislators fleeing to try to block a vote. This practice of “breaking the quorum” has been a part of US history since before the states were united. Second, there’s nothing remotely strange about the legislative majority ordering the arrest of members who’ve fled. That, too, is a venerable tradition in our troubled republic.