(WASHINGTON) — As Texas House Democrats close the first week of their quorum break in Washington, D.C., to stall Republican-backed voting bills, their colleagues across the aisle are escalating efforts to compel them to return to the Lone Star State.

On Thursday, Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan announced he would charter a plane on Saturday to fly the absent Democrats from the nation’s capital back to Austin.

“I am demanding all of our colleagues in D.C. to contact my staff immediately in order to secure their seat on the plane and return to Austin in order to do the state’s business. The State of Texas is waiting,” Phelan said in a statement.

In response, the Texas Democrats said they have no intention of taking up Phelan on the request.

“The Speaker should save his money. We won’t be needing a plane anytime soon, as our work to save democracy from the Trump Republicans is just getting started,” they said in a joint statement, adding, “We’re not going anywhere and suggest instead the speaker end this charade of a session, which is nothing more than a month long campaign commercial for Gov. Abbott’s re-election. The speaker should adjourn the House Sine Die.”

Beyond making the open request, the Texas House Speaker cannot further compel the Democrats to return to Texas. The state’s law enforcement officials similarly do not have jurisdiction across state lines to force the lawmakers back.

A group of Democrats left Texas on Monday to break quorum and wait out the end of their ongoing special legislative session in an effort to block the advancement of dual Republican-backed bills that would revise the state’s voting and election laws. Voting rights advocates say, if enacted, those bills would make it harder for Texans to have ballot access. By breaking quorum, the legislators also stalled the advancement of a slate of other bills the state’s Republican Gov. Greg Abbott deemed as priorities for the legislature, of which his party holds as a majority.

While it remains unclear what comes next for the Democrats in the nation’s capital, Abbott says the end of the current special legislative session will not wipe the slate clean of his priority items.

“Whenever the current special session ends, I will immediately call another special session, and I will continue calling additional special sessions so we can address issues,” Abbott said in an interview with CBS Dallas-Ft. Worth on Thursday.

In an attempt to terminate the possibility of another round of walkouts, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who heads the Texas Senate, wrote to Abbott on Thursday asking him to add an item to the next session that would change quorum rules to be based on a simple majority attendance.

“Texans expect their legislature to work and not be held hostage by a few legislators who are exploiting the quorum requirement. The majority of other state legislatures require a simple majority plus one,” Patrick wrote in the letter.

The current rules stipulate that two-thirds of elected members in each chamber must be present to conduct business. Abbott has not yet indicated if he plans to make the addition.

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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo will be questioned on Saturday by investigators with the New York State Attorney General’s office related to the probe into sexual harassment allegations made against him, according to reports.

The independent probe into these accusations, ranging from alleged unwanted hugs to alleged inappropriate comments, has stretched into its fourth month.

The three-term Democrat, up for re-election next year, will be grilled in Albany by two outside lawyers, Joon H. Kim and Anne L. Clark, hired to lead the probe overseen by Attorney General Letitia James, The New York Times first reported.

Richard Azzopardi, a senior adviser to Cuomo, told ABC News: “We have said repeatedly that the governor doesn’t want to comment on this review until he has cooperated, but the continued leaks are more evidence of the transparent political motivation of the attorney general’s review.”

The attorney general’s office had no comment on the matter when reached by ABC News.

The eventual findings of the investigation will be released in a public report.

A number of women, including former Cuomo aides, have accused the governor of sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior. Accusations first emerged in December when a former aide, Lindsey Boylan, alleged harassment in a series of tweets.

The governor has shared several public apologies in press conferences for “making people feel uncomfortable” but has vehemently denied any wrongdoing and repeatedly said he would “fully cooperate” with the investigation.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department on Thursday night unsealed an indictment against two California men who allegedly conspired to blow up Democratic headquarters in Sacramento, California.

Ian Rogers and Jarrod Copeland were allegedly inspired by the unfounded belief that the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump, the court documents say.

When investigators searched Rogers’ house in January, he allegedly had five pipe bombs, which court documents say were live. They also allegedly seized between 45 and 50 firearms, including at least three fully automatic weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

In text messages obtained by investigators and included in the federal indictment, Rogers and Copeland allegedly laid out their plan to bomb the building.

“I want to blow up a Democrat building bad,” Rogers wrote, according to the indictment.

They then discussed their target and Rogers said he was “thinking sac office first target,” to which Copeland agreed.

“I agree. Plan attack,” Copeland said, according to the court documents.

As the exchange concluded, Rogers allegedly wrote: “Let’s see what happens after the 20th we go to war.”

Shortly after Rogers was arrested in January, court documents say that Copeland contacted a militia group that Rogers allegedly belonged to, and the group instructed Copeland to destroy his phone.

Rogers and Copeland were previously charged federally via criminal complaint for allegedly possessing explosive devices and wanting to go after Democrats, but the complaint did not mention a planned attack on the Sacramento Democratic headquarters.

According to the complaint, investigators found a Three Percenters sticker on Rogers’ truck. The FBI has said the Three Percenters is a “radical militia group” with ties to the Capitol siege. Investigators also said they found a “White Privilege Card.”

A lawyer for Rogers declined to comment, and Copeland’s lawyer could also not be reached.

“Sad it’s come to this but I’m not going down without a fight,” Rogers allegedly texted, adding, “These commies need to be told what’s up.”

The special agent who authored the complaint wrote that he believes the messages show an intent to cause violence to prevent now-President Joe Biden from assuming office.

Rogers also discussed plans to attack Twitter and Facebook for banning Trump and possibly California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

He faces additional weapons and explosives charges in Napa County.

“I hope 45 goes to war if he doesn’t I will,” Rogers allegedly wrote.

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