Former President Barack Obama on Thursday joined a virtual meeting with Texas House Democrats who left the state to deny Republicans the ability to pass newly drawn GOP-favorable congressional maps, cheering on their efforts and stressing their work comes at a critical time in the fight against partisan gerrymandering.

Texas House Democratic lawmakers signaled on Thursday they are preparing to end their standoff over redistricting and return to the state.

Democratic state lawmakers who fled Texas say they’d be open to returning under certain conditions after leaving 10 days ago to block controversial new congressional maps backed by President Donald Trump.