Texas Governor Greg Abbott has said he is taking legal action to remove from office dozens of Democrats who have fled the state to block a plan to redraw electoral boundaries.
He filed a lawsuit with the Texas Supreme Court seeking to fire Democratic legislator, Gene Wu, whom he called the "ringleader" of a plot to "hijack" state government.
It came a day after the Republican governor ordered that the absent Democrats be arrested and returned to the statehouse so a vote on redistricting can go ahead.
The redrawn congressional map would create five more Republican-leaning constituencies in the US House of Representatives in Washington DC, where Republicans hold a slim majority.
"Texas House Democrats abandoned their duty to Texans, and there must be consequences," the governor said in a statement.
