As speaker, Phelan oversaw passage of numerous conservative priorities, but he gave up the gavel under pressure from the far right over the House’s impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The measure is a response to the dozens of children who died at Camp Mystic and other youth camps in the Texas Hill Country during the July 4 flood.

California's Democratic Legislature is expected to counter Texas' mid-decade redraw of its congressional map with one of its own.

Upon returning after a 15-day walkout, Texas House Democrats were asked for consent to be escorted off the floor by DPS officers. Nicole Collier refused and was locked in the chamber Monday night.

The new map, ordered up by President Donald Trump and endorsed by Gov. Greg Abbott, would wipe out five Democrat-held congressional districts

The vote comes more than two weeks after dozens of Democrats left Texas, stalling a vote on new congressional maps favoring Republicans.

Democratic Texas state Rep. Nicole Collier has now spent over 24 hours on the Texas House floor in protest after refusing a Republican demand to be placed under the watch of the state Department of Public Safety.

The redistricting fight heats up in Texas House as lawmakers prepare to vote on new mid-decade redistricting maps while Democratic activists voice their disapproval.