Texas Republicans need a quorum to pass new congressional maps that would send more Republicans to the U.S. House of Representatives.

The chamber lacks enough members on the House floor to hold a vote on a new congressional map that could flip five Democrat seats to Republicans.

The Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives announced new measures Friday targeting Democrats who fled the state to deny the body a quorum for redistricting. Democrats in the Texas state legislature fled to Democratic-controlled states like New York and Illinois in order to thwart a special session of the body to consider redistricting that could net Republicans up to five seats in the United States House of Representatives.

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is threatening to expand Republicans’ power grab over the state’s congressional maps even further. If... As we’ve noted, Gov. Abbott earlier this week leapfrogged his own attorney general in trying to get at least one Texas Democrat’s seat declared vacant.