The Texas Senate Special Committee on Congressional Redistricting voted 3-6 on Wednesday to reject a motion authorizing the committee chair to issue subpoenas to compel testimony from Justice Department officials, including Assistant Attorney General Harmit Dhillon and Deputy Assistant Attorney General Michael E. Gates.

The motion, offered by Senator Miles, would have authorized the chair “to issue 1 or more subpoenas to compel the assistant attorney general Harmit Dhillon, deputy assistant attorney general Michael E. Gates, or any other relevant employees of the United States Department of Justice to appear before the committee,” according to the clerk’s reading for the record.

Senator Miles argued the committee needed answers about a Justice Department letter that he said had “threatened this state directly,” and that the courts could resolve any legal disputes. “Let’s dispense with caution and issue a subpoena if needed,” he said.

Committee chair Senator King and several members opposed the motion. Senator Hughes said the DOJ letter was not addressed to the Senate and called it “superfluous to the committee’s actions,” noting the attorney general and the governor had already responded. “The letter was not directed to the senate. The letter...was directed to the attorney general and to the governor,” Hughes said, adding that the committee could proceed with congressional redistricting whether or not the DOJ had issued its letter.

Hughes also cited practical and legal concerns: he said precedent and counsel opinions raised questions about the Senate’s authority to subpoena federal officers, that there was no scheduled hearing date to specify in a subpoena, and that the DOJ had only been given three business days to reply to the committee’s voluntary invitation. The clerk noted the motion required a two-thirds record vote under Senate rule 11 (noted in the hearing as “Senate rule 11 20”).

After roll call, the chair announced there were three ayes and six nays; the motion failed. The chair told members he had already retained BakerHostetler to perform an independent legal review of any map filed in the House and that the committee would rely on counsel’s analysis going forward.

The committee did not adopt any direction to pursue enforcement of subpoenas after the vote; members instead debated whether to invite agency officials voluntarily or await further legal developments and additional hearings.