OAN Staff Katherine Mosack and Brooke Mallory
3:41 PM – Thursday, August 21, 2025
Texas Democrat Representative Nicole Collier abruptly exited a video call with party leaders on Thursday after claiming she had been warned that participating in the call from inside the State Capitol bathroom could constitute a felony offense.
The unexpected departure caught other Democrats off guard, highlighting the heightened tensions and procedural sensitivities surrounding legislative activities at the Capitol.
Reports did not identify the individual who told Rep. Collier (D-Texas) she had to leave the call.
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However, sources say that the warning came from Capitol officials enforcing new rules imposed by Republican leadership, who have required returning Democrat lawmakers to sign a “permission slip” and submit to a Department of Public Safety (DPS) escort to leave the Capitol. That rule extended even to places like hallways, restrooms, or any location within the Capitol, according to the Texas Tribune.
During the “incident,” Collier had been on a call with Governor Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.), Democrat National Committee Chair Ken Martin, Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and several others. The meeting coincided with a debate between the Texas House of Representatives over a redistricting bill backed by President Donald Trump.
Collier argued on the call that the bill violates the Voting Rights Act and “will prevent Black and Brown individuals from selecting the candidates of their choice because they’re cracking and packing these districts.”
Governor Greg Abbott (R-Texas) recently issued an order directing state authorities to track down and arrest Democrat lawmakers who refused to appear at the Capitol during a special legislative session.
These Democrats had broken quorum in protest of a sweeping election reform bill, preventing it from moving forward. Abbott consistently warned that lawmakers who continue to neglect their Constitutional duty could not only be compelled back to the chamber by law enforcement, but also face the possibility of being arrested and removed from office if they persist in obstructing the legislative process.
Upon their return to the legislature, the Democrat members reported that Texas Department of Public Safety officers followed them around the state Capitol on Monday, tailing them when they left. The heightened security measures put in place to ensure a quorum meant that they needed to sign “permission slips” accepting police surveillance in order to leave the building.
However, Collier refused to comply with the measures and decided to stay on the House floor at the Texas Capitol on Monday night and Tuesday.
“At the moment that the directive was issued, I felt like it was wrong. It’s just wrong to require grown people to get a permission slip to roam about freely,” Collier said in a recent interview on MSNBC. “So, I resisted. I objected in the only way I knew how, and that’s to resist.”
While on the Senate floor, Collier took the call with the other Democrats and spoke with them for 30 minutes before interrupting to say: “Sorry, I have to leave. They said it’s a felony for me to do this. Apparently, I can’t be on the floor or in the bathroom.”
She continued, turning to someone off-camera: “You told me I was only allowed to be here in the bathroom,” then turned back to address those on the call, saying, “No, hang on. Bye, everybody. I’ve got to go.”
Newsom and Senator Booker immediately responded in shock to Collier’s sudden exit.
“That is outrageous,” Booker said. “Let me tell you something, Rep. Collier in the bathroom has more dignity than Donald Trump in the Oval Office.”
“There you go,” Newsom agreed, nodding.
“What they’re trying to do right there is silence an American leader, silence a black woman, and that is outrageous,” Booker continued, “and I hope everybody took note of that. The fact that she can’t even let her voice be heard is fricken outrageous.”
Booker argued that warning Collier it was illegal to take the call from a bathroom reflected the “extreme lengths” officials in Texas were willing to go.
Despite the Democrats’ protest, fleeing the Lone Star State, the new Texas congressional maps were approved on Wednesday by the Texas House — prompting Governor Newsom to advance a redistricting map in California — countering the five additional seats Republicans would gain in Texas.
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