Burrows and Paxton filed their lawsuit in Illinois westernmost county, which recorded a 47 percent vote for Donald Trump during the 2024 presidential election. This was some distance from DuPage County, the Chicago suburb and Democratic stronghold where The Texas Tribune reports the Democratic lawmakers are staying.

Paxton sued O’Rourke and his political group, Powered by People, last week, arguing that the group was deceptively fundraising for and illegally supporting Texas Democrats’ walkout.

The judge says he doesn't have the power to decide whether the Democrats were violating civil warrants issued by the Texas House.