that bang of the comically enormous gavel in the texas state house marked the sudden end of texas democrats effort to stop the republican-controlled legislature in texas from passing a bill that will make it much harder for people in texas to vote in upcoming elections. their tactic to try to stop republicans from doing this was that they left the capitol so the texas house couldn t pass anything. most of the house democrats were actually still holding out and still trying to work that strategy as of tonight. but a handful of them had decided to return over the last few days. and then today three more house democrats all from houston broke ranks and went back and that was apparently enough to restore the quorum. once they got their quorum back after gaveling in the first session in weeks, texas republicans got the bilsz working again. the bills include their anti-voting rights bill.
biden administration. the president essentially has said he sees this also as a jobs bill, but he hopes it will be a marker to prove bipartisanship in washington works and that government can do things that are important to people. back to you, phil. joe johns, when it is the senate, bet slog over. appreciate it. texas governor greg abbott called a new special session that s getting under way. state democrats are fighting to block a restrictive voting law. they left the state to keep republicans from passing the bill during special session less than 24 hours ago. national correspondent dianne gallagher joins us from austin. are democrats returning for the newest special session? reporter: from looks of the texas house floor right now, phil, there s not going to be enough of them. they should be gaveling in any moment. they need two-thirds of members
they re gaveling in now. investigate the january 6th attack on the united states capitol will be in order. the select committee is meeting today to receive testimony on the law enforcement experience on january 6th. without objection, the chair s authorized to declare the committee in recess at any time. i now recognize myself for an opening statement. let me say a few words at the outset about this committee s work and how as chairman i plan to run things. we re going to be guided solely by the facts. the facts of what happened on january 6th in the runup to that tragic day and what has taken place since. that s what we re charged to do by house resolution 503. as there is no place for politics or partisanship in this investigation. our only charge is to follow the facts where they lead us. while we have a lot to uncover,
this is part of a red-blue divide. democrats represent disproportionately cities where public trans it is an important way to get around and republicans represent disproportionately rural areas. cars are the only way to get around. they want more money for high because. there are other issues as well like covid relief money and labor provisions as it relates to wages and construction of the projects. but there still optimism to get it done. there is a lot riding on this deal for president biden, for the democratic party and republicans like the key negotiator who is retiring and is in legacy building mode and wants to ink this deal before he rides off in the sunset and show he can deliver the votes and be a good faith player in a bipartisan negotiation. the senate is gaveling in this hour. we should know in the next few hours just how senators are feeling about this deal even if it is unlikely that they will will meet their optimistic deadline of getting a bill done today. let s spea
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