The Blast - July 21, 2025

The first special session began today

IN TODAY’S BLAST

• Democrats talk strategy

• The House committee

• The Senate committee

DEMOCRATS TALK STRATEGY

Democrats have come to Austin this special session with a “multistep plan” to address Republicans’ redistricting push. But when it comes to a quorum break, Democrats will play it by ear.

In 2021 and 2003, the quorum break was Democrats’ defining play. As it stands, Democrats don’t want to exercise the nuclear option without a clear vision why.

Austin’s very own Democratic U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, chair of the U.S. House Progressive Caucus, outlined Democrats’ “multistep plan” during a Texas House Democratic Caucus press conference today in Austin. That plan includes engaging other Democratic states, potentially to hold a counter redistricting, and recruiting candidates to run against Trump-supporting Republicans.

“We will need to buy time, and that means keeping everything on the table, doing whatever it takes, having on the table filibusters, dragging out hearings, quorum breaks — the kinds of tactics that will make sure that we have the time to highlight these issues in front of everyday Americans,” Casar said.

Democrats in the Legislature are getting national pressure to break quorum, but the House rules now have strict monetary penalties for breaking quorum. Moreover, Democrats on the ground know that the 2021 and 2003 breaks didn’t change the outcome.

“Everyone tells us to break quorum, but to what end?” one Democratic Capitol veteran told The Blast. “No one can answer that right now because there is not an answer.”

Democrats’ reason could still come into focus at a later date. At the THDC press conference, Texas House Democratic Leader Gene Wu addressed speculation about a quorum break with his first breath when he said being in Austin was “the right thing to do and the right strategic move to make” to hold Republicans accountable.

“Democrats are going to consistently look at the environment and see what is the smartest decision to make, and we will come to a consensus on what that decision is,” Wu said when pressed for more details. “It will be when we decide it is.”

For now, Democrats will drive home their argument that this special session is Gov. Greg Abbott’s attempt to leverage this month’s floods for political gains. Forty-eight of the House’s 62 Democrats this afternoon sent a letter to Speaker Dustin Burrows demanding that flood relief come first during this special session.

Casar went a bit broader, framing it as an attempt to kill the Voting Rights Act nationally at a time when Trump hopes to keep the House in a potential blowback year.

“Texas Democrats and Texas Republicans in Congress all oppose this plan, it’s just that the Texas Republicans in Congress are too chicken to say it on the record — and I know they’ve said it off the record to everybody here,” Casar said.

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THE HOUSE COMMITTEE

Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows unveiled a 21-member select committee to handle congressional redistricting. It’s similar to the standing committee he appointed in February, but with some key shakeups.

The new committee has the same leadership, Chair Cody Vasut, R-Angleton, and Vice Chair Jon Rosenthal, D-Houston. But Burrows stocked most of the six additional seats with members who support him.

New members include members of his leadership team:

• House Administration Committee Chair Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth

• Calendars Committee Chair Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi

• Culture, Recreation and Tourism Committee Chair Will Metcalf, R-Conroe

• Speaker Pro Tempore Joe Moody, D-El Paso

Moody is a leadership-friendly Democrat who has been a go-to mediator when Republicans need the minority’s buy-in. He could be key to staving off a quorum break or other Democratic shenanigans.

Another Burrows-aligned member added to the list is freshman Rep. John McQueeney, R-Fort Worth.

Democratic Reps. Senfronia Thompson of Houston and Chris Turner of Grand Prairie along with anti-leadership freshman Republican Rep. Katrina Pierson of Rockwall round out the list. Thompson and Turner are two respected voices within the Democratic caucus, and giving Dean Thompson a spot is a nod to the Texas Legislative Black Caucus.

Two members of the standing committee won’t be on the select committee:

• Rep. Jolanda Jones, D-Houston, is running for TX-18. Thompson, another Black woman from Houston, effectively serves as her replacement.

• Rep. Tom Oliverson, R-Cypress, was the first speaker candidate to attempt a GOP mutiny against the current leadership regime. However, Oliverson tells The Blast removing him was a mutual agreement between him and Burrows because he wasn’t going to be able to attend all of the hearings. Replacing him with Pierson gives the hardline conservatives a voice on the panel.

Another way to view the committee makeup is by geography. President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice says TX-09, TX-18, TX-29 and TX-33 are unconstitutionally racially gerrymandered. Those Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston-area districts will be ground zero for this summer’s redistricting fight, along with the Rio Grande Valley, where Republicans hope to double down on recent gains.

The following committee members hail from districts in or around those key areas:

• Houston

  • Republicans: Metcalf of Conroe, Vasut of Angleton

  • Democrats: Christian Manuel of Port Arthur, Rosenthal of Houston, Thompson of Houston, Gene Wu of Houston

• Dallas-Fort Worth:

  • Republicans: Geren of Fort Worth, McQueeney of Fort Worth, Pierson of Rockwall

  • Democrat: Turner of Grand Prairie

• Rio Grande Valley:

  • Republican: Ryan Guillen of Rio Grande City

  • Democrat: Bobby Guerra of Mission

Notably, Hunter’s Corpus Christi district is entirely in that of U.S. Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Victoria, whose TX-27 will likely be reshaped by any attempt to restructure the RGV districts. Hunter, like Geren, represents the old guard of Republicans, and could be a voice for Republican members of the Texas delegation who are quietly resistant to redistricting.

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THE SENATE COMMITTEE

In the Texas Senate, Democrats spent all day questioning and debating the merits of redistricting.

The committee will be split 6-3.

Republicans:

• Chair Phil King of Weatherford

• Vice Chair Brandon Creighton of Conroe

• Birthday boy Bryan Hughes of Mineola

• Tan Parker of Flower Mound

• Angela Paxton of McKinney

• Kevin Sparks of Midland

Democrats:

• Carol Alvarado of Houston

• “Chuy” Hinojosa of McAllen

• Borris Miles of Houston

The Democrats all come from impacted districts. Miles, for example, noted that three of the seats targeted by the DOJ cross through his Senate district, and one sits entirely within his district.

Senate Dean Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, rarely dissents during debate on the floor. However, she had most of the chamber listening today when she spoke against the redistricting effort.

“Let us remember, members, that trust is far easier to lose than to restore,” Zaffirini said. “I am very concerned that if we proceed down this path, trust will be lost statewide.”

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• The House and Senate select committees on disaster preparedness and flooding will meet at 9 a.m. on Wednesday.

• The House Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting will hold its first hearing at 2 p.m. on Thursday in Austin.

• The House Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting will hold its second hearing at 11 a.m. on Saturday in Houston.

• The House Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting will hold its third hearing at 5 p.m. on Monday in Arlington.

• The Senate redistricting hearings aren’t officially on the books yet, but Chair Phil King, R-Weatherford, says he plans to hold them on Friday, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday. The meetings will allow for virtual testimony to allow for more constituent feedback.

View the full list of upcoming committee notices here and here.

The Senate will convene at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday. The House will convene at 10 a.m. on Thursday.

• The livestream during the Senate debate on redistricting sputtered out, cut to black, then resumed as Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, asked about “the Jeff Epstein files.”

• TX-34: Former federal prosecutor Eric Flores is running as a Republican against U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen. Gonzalez was reelected by 3 points, but President Donald Trump won the district by 5 points. Read more here.

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“The Texas Legislature is back for a special session. Here’s what we’re watching.” by Alejandro Serrano of The Texas Tribune

“2003 redistricting profoundly changed Texas politics, will this year’s plan do the same?” by Gromer Jeffers Jr. of The Dallas Morning News

Op-ed: “The racial gerrymander boomerang” by The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board

“Texas emergency warning bill, vetoed in 2019, will return in session” by Bayliss Wagner of the Austin American-Statesman

“Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton did not disclose real estate interests for years. That just changed.” by Lauren McGaughy of The Texas Newsroom

Throwback to an old Post of the Day:

Do you or someone in your office have a birthday you’d like mentioned? Email us.

(July 21) State Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola
(July 22) State Rep. Rhetta Bowers, D-Rowlett
(July 22) State Rep. Gary Gates, R-Richmond

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