AUSTIN, Texas — Ken Paxton is asking that California law enforcement officers be allowed to arrest Texas House Democrats who are staying in the state, according to a lawsuit the attorney general filed Friday.

Gov. Greg Abbott previously asked the court to expel Rep. Gene Wu, the House Democratic leader. Paxton disputed the governor’s authority to make the request.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has gone nuclear on Democrats who fled the state. “I've filed a historic lawsuit against Democrat runaways in SCOTX to secure an order declaring their seats vacant,” Paxton wrote on X.