Joan Esposito is joined by Kendall Scudder, chair of the Texas Democratic Party.

Scudder discussed the ongoing effort of Democratic Texas state legislators to block passage of a Republican congressional map designed to give the GOP five additional U.S. House seats in the 2026 midterms. By leaving the state, the Texas lawmakers, many of whom have come to Illinois, have denied quorum to the Republican-controlled chamber and brought the legislature's 30-day special session to a halt.

“For a decade,” Scudder told Esposito, “Democrats have been campaigning saying that we are the great defenders of democracy, and today is the day for us to act like it. You don't get to do that for 10 years, and then, when a moment like this happens, cower and walk away.”

The legislators, who are paid a base salary of just $7,200 annually and face $500-a-day fines for leaving the state during session, are seeking financial support through a redistricting defense fund (visit https://secure.actblue.com/donate/tdp_redistricting).

“They all have other jobs, they have families, and they are away from all of those things,” Scudder said. “They still have mortgages. Their mortgages don't get to break quorum. . . . But they know that this attempt to steal members of Congress from the electorate so that the president can avoid accountability for trying to privatize Social Security, gouging Medicare and Medicaid, passing the largest tax increase on working families in our lifetime [is] unconscionable.”

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).

And find the Joan Esposito (Full Episodes) podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, YouTube, and Amazon.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.