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Texas Democrats who blocked a vote-restriction bill in a dramatic fashion last month will meet with Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House next week, Texas Senior Adviser Simon Sanders said in a statement Thursday.
The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday as Democrats face significant hurdles to pass federal election reforms in the deeply divided Senate.
A source familiar with the plans told NBC News that Texas lawmakers will discuss voting rights and a bill for the people. Legislation passed by the House of Representatives, which would create a federal floor for accessing voting rights, would block restrictive election bills such as those proposed by Texas Republicans.
The meeting highlights how important federal action is to Democrats in states across the country, many of whom have struggled to fight restrictive voting laws introduced by Republican majorities in state legislatures. President Joe Biden recently appointed Harris to lead the administration’s efforts to protect voting rights.
“Breaking a quorum and leaving the state assembly is equivalent to us crawling on our knees asking the federal government to step in,” said Trey Martinez Fisher, a Democrat who will attend the meeting. “What we can contribute to the national narrative is to tell our story.”
Texas senators and representatives, including Representatives Gina Hinojosa and Jessica Gonzalez, will attend the White House meeting.
Texas lawmakers also plan to meet with senators as well, according to Martinez Fisher.
Republicans have introduced and introduced hundreds of restrictive election laws this year in the wake of former President Donald Trump’s stolen election lie. At least 22 bills with restrictive voting provisions have been enacted as of mid-May, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, and at least 61 more are still progressing through state legislatures.
At the end of the legislative session, Texas Democrats used every parliamentary tool at their disposal to defeat a bill that would add election restrictions in the state. They eventually released them to prevent the vote before the midnight deadline.
Texas Republicans vowed to reintroduce and pass the bill this summer.
Jin C Team
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