General Discussion

Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, said on Thursday that the F.B.I. had agreed to his request to help track down dozens of Democratic Texas state lawmakers who left the state to prevent a vote on a redistricting plan. (Emphasis added by me)

Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois scoffed at the idea that federal agents could be deployed against the Texas lawmakers present in his state, calling it “a lot of grandstanding.”

“The reality is that all that he has said is that the F.B.I. has been authorized to locate the House Democrats — nothing more,” Mr. Pritzker told reporters at the Illinois State Fair on Thursday. “I welcome the F.B.I. coming to the state,” he added. “But they won’t be arresting anyone because there is no federal law that prohibits those Texas House Democrats from being here.”