Even As They’re Poised to Pass Gerrymandered Maps, Texas GOP Finds Ways to Threaten Dems

Date:2025-08-21 07:54:32 Category:US Views:1 Comment:0

Texas Democratic Rep. Nicole Collier made headlines this week when she chose to sleep in the state capitol building rather than be bullied into accepting a police escort in order to leave.

It’s one of many intimidation tactics pushed by Texas Republicans in recent weeks as they threaten their Democratic colleagues for daring to protest their gerrymandering drive on behalf of the Trump administration.

Texas Democrats returned to the state this week — after enduring two weeks of arrest threats from the state’s Republican governor, attorney general and federal and state lawmakers alike — and granted their Republican colleagues a quorum to pass their rigged maps. Republicans in the state House are poised to pass the maps, which will likely hand Texas five more Republican seats in the U.S. House, this evening, and the state Senate is expected to pass them later this week.

The Democrats, of course, left the state earlier this month to delay a vote on the once-unprecedented mid-cycle gerrymandering effort, which the Trump administration directed Texas Republicans to carry out in order to help President Trump maintain a trifecta in the midterms. As TPM has reported, the Trump administration has been pressuring other red state officials to redraw their congressional district maps in hopes of flipping Democratic U.S. House seats in their states. If Democrats are able to take back the House in 2026, they could not only jam up Trump’s legislative agenda but they would also have sweeping authority to open investigations into the Trump administration’s actions, as well as subpoena power.

But back to Texas for a moment. When Texas Democrats returned to the state legislature (after Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said he would simply continue calling special sessions until the Dems folded), their Republican colleagues forced them to agree to have a state police officer escort if they left the state Capitol building. Some, including Collier, refused the Republican mandate and opted to sleep inside the building rather than be followed around by law enforcement.

But it appears the intimidation campaign hasn’t stopped there. Collier reportedly participated in a Democratic National Committee virtual press conference this afternoon with DNC Chair Ken Martin, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ). At one point during the Zoom call, Collier was heard speaking to someone off camera, who reportedly told her she might be charged with a felony, according to Democracy Docket:

Collier dialed into the Zoom call from a Capitol restroom as the floor debate over the new maps echoed in the background. “I’ll be damned if I let [Republicans] use petty intimidation tactics to silence my voters. They sent me here to fight, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do,” she said. “I represent a majority Black and brown district and it’ll be my constituents, people who look like me, that will be harmed.”
A few minutes later, Collier interrupted as Martin was responding to a press question, saying she was being ordered to end the call.
“It’s a felony for me to do this, apparently?” Collier said before seeming to address someone off camera. “I can’t be on the floor or in the bathroom? You told me I was only allowed to be here, in the bathroom.”

It’s still unclear what exactly Collier did or did not do wrong. But even on the precipice of a massive victory for the Trump administration, Texas Republicans are still conjuring up creative news ways to threaten and intimidate their Democratic colleagues, for using the tools at their disposal to protest the GOP’s egregious power grab.

You Got ‘Em Stephen Miller

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller joined Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance on their field trip to Union Station in Washington, D.C. this afternoon to, essentially, do a photo-op showing their support for the National Guard troops who have been standing outside over there for days. The Trump administration is engaged in a performative show of force in the city, under the guise of some sort of crackdown on crime.

The National Guard troops and other members of federal law enforcement that Trump has brought in have mostly been patrolling peaceful tourist areas. The move has been met with protests from district residents, demonstrating against the federalization of D.C.’s police force, as Trump tries to use the moment to dunk on the Democratic officials who govern D.C.

Miller disparaged the protesters as “stupid white hippies”:

“All these demonstrators you’ve seen out here in recent days, all these elderly white hippies, they’re not part of the city and never have been,” he said. “And by the way, most of the citizens who live in Washington, D.C., are Black.”
“So we’re going to ignore these stupid white hippies that all need to go home and take a nap because they’re all over 90 years old,” he added. “And we’re going to get back to the business of protecting the American people and the citizens of Washington, D.C.”