The Texas Supreme Court requested more information from Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and state Attorney General Ken Paxton’s bid to expel several House Democrats from the state legislature.

In a filing Tuesday, the Texas Supreme Court said it anticipates final responses to be filed on Sept. 4, about two weeks after the special session is set to end. The court’s request pushes the case’s timeline back weeks, as the court set a three-week period of briefings from both sides.

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Abbott and Paxton, in unprecedented moves, bypassed lower courts and directly asked the state Supreme Court to remove 31 Texas House Democrats who left the state to deny Republican lawmakers a quorum to vote on new congressional maps. The effort to redraw the state’s maps mid-decade came amid pressure from President Donald Trump to create a cushion to retain the GOP’s razor-thin House majority.

No lawmakers in Texas have ever been removed from their elected position for breaking quorum. Abbott and Paxton had been looking to remove the Democratic lawmakers immediately.

Texas’s high court combined similar cases between Abbott and Paxton against the House Democratic Caucus chairman, state Rep. Gene Wu. Abbott filed suit against Wu, and Paxton filed suit against Wu and several other Democratic lawmakers.

Wu’s attorneys have argued that Wu left the state in a manner that represents the wish of his constituents.  

TEXAS DEMOCRATS LEAVE STATE IN EFFORT TO HALT GOP REDISTRICTING PLAN

“[Wu] has not died and has not been expelled from the House by the constitutionally prescribed means: a 2/3 vote of the House,” his lawyers said in a brief. “His presence in another state is not a voluntary resignation — as his opposition to this petition makes evident.”

The Texas Supreme Court is made up entirely of Republicans, two-thirds of whom were initially appointed by Abbott.