(The Center Square) – Ahead of the House convening on Friday, the Texas House Democratic Caucus said they will return to Austin when their “conditions are met.”

House Speaker Dustin Burrows scheduled the House to convene at 10 am Friday. If no quorum is met, the House and Senate will adjourn sine die and Gov. Greg Abbott will call a second special session.

On Tuesday, House Democrats said they would return after the first special session was over. Those “who left the state to prevent a vote on new congressional maps will return to Texas, feeling they have accomplished their mission of killing the first special session, raising awareness and sparking national backlash about the mid-decade redistricting,” the caucus told ABC News and Houston ABC station KTRK, The Center Square reported.

On Thursday, House Democrats issued a different message, stating, “they will only return to Texas once two critical conditions are met: The legislature’s adjournment sine die on Friday; and the introduction of California’s redistricting maps that would neutralize the Trump-Abbott voter suppression effort.”

House Democrats initially said they were blocking the legislative process because they cared about Hill Country flood relief, which they claimed Gov. Abbott was using as a political ploy. On Tuesday, Burrows scheduled the first bill package for a floor vote—meeting their demand—which prioritizes flood relief. Democrats didn’t show up.

The same day, House Democrats said, “Texas House Democrats are ready to pass real flood relief. We’re ready to fund disaster preparedness. But if Republicans continue putting corrupt politics before the interests of flood victims, all options are on the table.”

House Democrats not only didn’t vote for flood relief, they blocked all flood relief efforts from being passed.

Their absence ensured no quorum was reached and the flood relief bill couldn’t be voted on. Senate Democrats voted for the relief package, and all bills on the special session call.

The Senate will continue to pass the same bills in the second special session regardless of what the House does, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said.

On Thursday, House Democrats changed course, dropping their concern for flood relief, now saying their priority is to return to Austin to block a redistricting bill.

“Under the advice of legal counsel, Democrats must return to Texas to build a strong public legislative record for the upcoming legal battle against a map that violates both the current Voting Rights Act and the Constitution,” they said.

They also blamed President Donald Trump, stating he was the reason why the redistricting bill was introduced.

State Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, the author of the House bill, said the reason for redistricting was because of Texas’ population increase and the laws had changed since 2021, The Center Square reported.

Gov. Abbott also explained the reason, saying, “Both the law and facts have changed since we drew the lines back in 2021,” citing the same Fifth Circuit ruling House Republicans cited in a redistricting hearing. The court ruled that the 1965 Voting Rights Act doesn’t protect a “coalition” of multiple minority groups claiming discrimination.

The Texas population has greatly increased since the last redistricting maps were drawn in 2021, waiting until 2030 to redraw maps would disenfranchise voters, Abbott and other Republicans argued. Additionally, after the 2024 election, a record number of Hispanic and Black Texans voted for Republicans, shifting voter demographics.

“A lot of people who voted Republican, who voted for Donald Trump, were trapped into Democrat districts,” Abbott told NBC News. “And so, when you look at the facts, when you look at the law, there is every reason to go ahead and draw the lines so that we can assure that every voter is going to have the opportunity to vote for their candidate of choice.”

House Democrats remained defiant, stating, “We will return to the house floor and to the courthouse with a clear message: the fight to protect voting rights has only just begun.”

Burrows said he will gavel in the second session on Friday if Democrats don’t return and reestablish the call of the house. Civil arrest warrants for absconding Democrats would still be valid.

Texas DPS troopers and Texas Rangers have been ordered to locate and arrest missing Democrats and return them to Austin. It’s unclear if arrests would be made at airports or at their homes.

Burrows said troopers are sitting outside their homes and tracking every lead until they return to the House chamber for bills to be voted on.