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A Republican push to redraw Texas’s congressional map ahead of the 2026 midterms has descended into an all-out political war as Democratic lawmakers have fled the state to prevent the map’s passage and as Republican leaders have called for their arrest and sought the power of federal agencies to compel their return. But as the conflict moved into another week, Governor Greg Abbott signaled that he would use the power of his office to keep the redistricting fight going for as long as needed.

In an interview with NBC News, Abbott said that the lawmakers’ attempt to block the new map will be in vain as he’s prepared to call as many special legislative sessions as required to pass it. “But I’ll tell you this also, Democrats act like they’re not going to come back as long as this is an issue,” he told the outlet. “That means they’re not going to come back until like 2027 or 2028, because I’m going to call special session after special session after special session with the same agenda items on there.”

It’s not the only threat the governor floated this week. In an interview with the Fox News podcast Ruthless, Abbott suggested that Republicans might decide to gerrymander the map even further, deepening the party’s hold on the state more than initially planned. “What I’m thinking now is that if they don’t start showing up, I may start expanding,” he said. “We may make it six or seven or eight new seats we’re going to be adding on the Republican side.”

Last month, President Donald Trump urged the Texas legislature to redraw its congressional map with the goal of aggressively gerrymandering the deep-red state to add on at least five new Republican-friendly districts. State and local leaders latched onto the plan, but more than 50 Democratic lawmakers in the state House decided to leave Texas for liberal strongholds like Illinois and New York in order to deny the chamber a quorum to vote in the special session.

In response, Republican leaders have ratcheted up their response as the state House Speaker signed civil warrants for the lawmakers’ arrests and Abbott tasked the state law enforcement with locating the missing members and with investigating them for potential violations of the law. The governor has also filed a lawsuit seeking to remove House Democratic Caucus leader Gene Wu from office, alleging that leaving the state amounted to “abandonment” of his office. Members are also facing a daily $500 fine for every day they’re absent from the chamber.

On Thursday, Senator John Cornyn, who is in the midst of a difficult primary battle for reelection, said that the FBI had responded to his request for federal support in locating the Democratic lawmakers who have traveled outside of Texas. Per the Texas Tribune, Cornyn said the agency has assigned agents from the FBI’s offices in both Austin and San Antonio, but it’s not presently clear how they will be utilized.

Abbott has not said what role the FBI could play in ending this standoff. “I’m not going to disclose, though all may or may not be involved,” Abbott told NBC News. “All I can say is we’re going to use every tool that we can to make sure that these runaway Democrats are going to be held accountable.”

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