If those conditions are met, the Texas House Democratic Caucus said Democratic lawmakers will return to the Texas House.

"It's imperative at this moment to use every tool that we have to fight back," Isaiah Martin, a candidate running in Texas's 18th congressional district.

At a Fight the Trump Takeover rally in Millennium Park, Rep. Gene Wu, the Texas House minority leader, accuses the state's GOP of trying to rig the system and says his colleagues who fled the state are trying to stop Republicans from taking away everyone's voting rights.

Former President Barack Obama waded into the debate over redistricting in a zoom call with Texas House Democrats on Thursday, warning of a “systematic assault on democracy” spurred by Republican efforts to redraw congressional maps in Texas.

House Speaker said he expected the missing members to return by Monday to resume work on redistricting, THC rules and flood responses.

The leader of Democrats in the Texas House said the battle over redistricting, which could determine control of Congress, is likely to continue in the courts.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday called a second special session to push through a redrawing of congressional maps to secure up to five more Republican seats in the US House.

The new Texas maps are causing quiet discord among House Democrats in danger of being displaced.

Trump's push for states to redraw political maps and create more GOP-friendly House seats in time for the 2026 election has raised the stakes.