The Texas Democratic lawmakers who fled the state to hold up a vote on redistricting are back home. But that doesn’t mean they are done with their political stunts just yet.
Texas House Democrats presented a plan on Wednesday to introduce an amendment to the redistricting bill that would prevent it from going into effect until the Trump administration releases the Jeffrey Epstein files, Axios reported.
That’s right. They’re back to using Epstein to attack their political opponents.
Why it matters: The Democratic effort, which aims to put new political pressure on the Trump administration regarding his association with Epstein, is sure to fail in the Republican-controlled Legislature.
Catch up quick: The disgraced financier died by suicide in 2019, but conspiracy theories have swirled about his relationships with powerful people — and what they knew about his sex trafficking.
Earlier this month, a legal nonprofit sued the Trump administration for not releasing Epstein-related documents and requested them in an expedited manner.
The big picture: The proposed redistricting was drawn at President Trump's urging and is an effort to boost GOP chances of retaining control of the U.S. House in the midterm elections.
“This Act takes effect, to the extent permitted, on the 30th day after the United States Attorney General makes publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in the possession of the Department of Justice, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and United States Attorneys’ Offices, that relate to Jeffrey Epstein,” the amendment reads.
That's funny, Gene Wu, the head of the Texas House Democrats, is forcing a vote on an amendment to the new state congressional maps that would require a release of the Epstein files before they go into effect pic.twitter.com/lct0fU7IYB
— David Dayen (@ddayen) August 20, 2025
Texas Democrats are once again trying to weaponize the Epstein files controversy against Republicans. They seem to think the backlash against the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein matter will somehow convince people to support them in their Quixotic quest to stop the redistricting vote.
The erstwhile lawmakers finally returned to Texas after a two-week vacation in states like New York, Illinois, and others. However, after the FBI issued arrest warrants for the legislators, they decided it was time to go back home and face the music.
Now, the redistricting vote is set to go forward, and it is highly unlikely that the amendment will remain in place, which shows that this stunt was about as effective as using a toothpick to swat flies.
Whether they like it or not, Texas’ redistricting efforts are going to succeed. Democrats know this, which is why California is looking to take similar action to make sure Texas doesn’t get more Republican seats in the House of Representatives.