Abbott gave Texas House Democrats a deadline of 3 p.m. local time on Monday to return to the statehouse for the special session or risk losing their jobs. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton suggested Democrats who left should be arrested and forcibly brought back, though he later admitted that would be a "challenge."

The more than 50 Democratic members of the Texas legislature left the state on Sunday to deny Republicans the quorum necessary to vote on the redistricting plan, which President Donald Trump has championed,

Democrats across the U.S. are joining the fight alongside Texas House Democrats to oppose the vote on a new Trump-backed Congressional map that could add up to five Republican seats. This comes as Texas Governor Greg Abbott threatens the arrest and expulsion of House Democrats who don’t return to the state by this afternoon.