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CNN
a few seconds ago
- CNN
A California plan is likely the Democrats' best option in the redistricting wars
Congressional newsFacebookTweetLink Follow As Texas Republicans move ahead with redistricting to protect or even expand the GOP's slim majority in the US House, Democratic-run states, led by California, are pushing forward with their own efforts to draw new maps and add Democratic seats. No Democratic states can shift the balance of power as dramatically and quickly as Texas, where Republican lawmakers can enact new maps giving them as many as five more GOP-controlled seats as soon as they establish a quorum, which state Democrats have denied them by fleeing the state. In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom has urged lawmakers to draw a new map to put before voters in a November special election. The map could flip five of Republicans' nine seats in the state if voters approve it in a ballot initiative in November, sources told CNN. Newsom said the plan would go forward only if Texas completes its redistricting effort. 'Things have changed. We're reacting to that change,' the governor said at a news conference Monday. 'They've triggered this response, and we're not going to roll over.' Texas' mid-decade redistricting, undertaken at President Donald Trump's behest, has brought together a Democratic Party beset by infighting and facing historically low approval ratings. Even as party leaders vow to fight back against Texas and other Republican states discussing redrawing their maps, they are limited in how much they can retaliate. In several of the 15 states where Democrats hold the governorship and both chambers of the legislature, including New York, Washington and Colorado, maps are drawn by independent or bipartisan redistricting commissions, which are meant to thwart the sort of partisan gerrymandering Democrats are now seeking to advance. In other blue states — including Maryland and Illinois — Democrats have already drawn aggressively gerrymandered maps. Republicans have pointed to Illinois' map to argue they are within their rights to redraw lines in Texas. Meanwhile, Republicans, who have trifectas in 23 states, have more ground to gain in a redistricting tug-of-war. GOP lawmakers in states such as Missouri and Florida have also expressed openness to new maps. Ohio, where lawmakers must redraw their maps under state redistricting laws, could also yield additional seats. 'There's not a scenario where we don't have more seats that we can go flip than they do,' a Republican close to the GOP redistricting process told CNN. Those hurdles haven't stopped Democratic leaders from pushing ahead. 'I'll look at our laws, I'll find a path because we cannot take this lying down,' New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul said at a news conference Monday. 'We can't surrender when we have a fight for our lives.' Here's what Democratic leaders say they plan to do to respond to Texas' redistricting push: If voters approve Newsom's plan, California would retain its independent Citizens Redistricting Commission and new maps would stay in place only through 2030. Democrats hold 43 of the state's 52 congressional districts. A new map could endanger California Republicans such as Rep. Kevin Kiley, who said he would introduce legislation Tuesday prohibiting mid-cycle redistricting. 'Gavin Newsom is trying to subvert the will of voters and do lasting damage to democracy in California,' Kiley said in a press release, adding that his bill would 'stop a damaging redistricting war from breaking out across the country.' Other Republicans whose seats might be targeted include Reps. David Valadao, Darrell Issa, Doug LaMalfa and Ken Calvert, according to the sources. In New York, where legislative maps are drawn by an independent commission, Democratic leaders introduced a proposed constitutional amendment last week that would allow lawmakers to redraw the state's congressional map mid-decade if another state does so first. At best, New York Democrats wouldn't be able to change their maps until the 2028 election. The measure would need to pass in two consecutive legislative sessions and be approved by voters in 2027 before state lawmakers could redraw their congressional maps. Illinois' maps are drawn by the legislature and approved by the governor, which means Democrats in the state have a clear path to redraw their maps. Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker has expressed openness to redistricting, saying lawmakers must put 'everything on the table.' But the state's maps are already heavily tilted toward the party. Illinois' 2021 redistricting effort shifted additional seats to Democrats, who now hold 14 of the state's 17 congressional districts. Maryland House of Delegates Majority Leader David Moon has introduced legislation that would automatically redraw the state's map if another state redraws their own outside of the once-a-decade custom. But Maryland lawmakers face a similar dilemma as Illinois: While they don't face the same procedural hurdles as states like New York, they don't have much room to maneuver either. Democrats already control seven of the state's eight districts. It's also not clear a new map would be approved. A Maryland judge threw out a Democrat-backed congressional map drawn in 2021 that would have threatened the state's lone Republican lawmaker, Rep. Andy Harris. Harris won his 2024 reelection bid with nearly 60% of the vote. In New Jersey, where Democrats hold nine of 12 districts, they would need to change the state constitution to do off-cycle redistricting and disempower the state's bipartisan commission. In Colorado, the state legislature asked voters to approve the formation of an independent redistricting commission in 2018. The measure passed overwhelmingly. Additionally, the state Supreme Court ruled in 2003 that redistricting can happen only after the census. And in Washington state, it would take Republican votes to reconvene the state's bipartisan redistricting commission. It's unlikely Democrats in the state, who control eight of 10 districts, would be able to turn one more seat blue. 'There's literally no way to get the results they are talking about before the 2026 election,' Washington's state Senate majority leader, Jamie Pedersen, told the Washington Standard. 'We have already done our share to get Democrats in the House. There's no juice to squeeze in the lemon here.' CNN's Fredreka Schouten contributed to this report.
New York Times
a minute ago
- New York Times
Does Japan Want American Cars? Trump's Push to Open Foreign Markets Faces Test.
Last month's pledge by Japan to open its markets to more American cars allowed President Trump to declare victory in a goal he had chased for decades. For Mr. Trump, the ubiquity of Japanese car brands in the United States is aggravating, when Japan buys virtually no American cars. The disparity has long fed his conviction that the openness of the U.S. economy is not fairly reciprocated, contributing to a persistent trade deficit. Now, in his second term, Mr. Trump is raising tariffs steeply and pressuring other countries into dismantling barriers that range from taxes on American beef and soybeans to car-safety and local-content requirements in Japan and Indonesia. Some trade experts question this strategy's efficacy. They say that countries have in some cases agreed to address specific grievances of Mr. Trump's, like sales of cars in Japan, that are unlikely to result in a flood of new American exports. Automotive experts and industry veterans who have worked for U.S. carmakers in Japan said the pledge to remove trade barriers might do little to boost sales. But in the view of supporters of Mr. Trump's policies, dismantling foreign obstacles to American trade — a longtime goal shared by both Republican and Democratic administrations — is overdue for a more forceful approach. 'Big trade partners have long had rules and regulations in place that lock us out of the market,' said Wilbur Ross, the Secretary of Commerce during the first Trump administration. 'The president knows he can go a lot farther than we went last time to rectify those,' he said. Since World War II, American car companies have never managed to gain a significant foothold in Japan, which hasn't put tariffs on imported vehicles since the late 1970s. Ford Motor pulled out of Japan in 2016, citing no path to profitability. Last year, American brands like General Motors made up less than 1 percent of sales. Mr. Trump blames unfair regulations in Japan for making it 'impossible' for American companies to sell cars in the market. These include Japan's unwillingness to accept vehicles that pass U.S. safety standards, which are different than international ones. Mr. Trump sought to change this in his first term. Late last month, he succeeded. In exchange for a 15 percent across-the-board U.S. tariff on its goods — lower than the previously threatened 25 percent — Japan agreed to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in the United States. Mr. Trump was keen on another concession. 'Perhaps most importantly,' Mr. Trump wrote in a social media post, 'Japan will open their Country to Trade including Cars and Trucks.' That means Japan would allow the import of American-made cars without the unique safety standards and testing it usually requires, the country's chief trade negotiator said at a recent news conference. Mr. Trump made a similar declaration last week when announcing a trade deal with South Korea. He said that, in exchange for the same 15 percent tariff rate as Japan, South Korea would begin accepting more American cars and trucks into its market without imposing duties on them. In South Korea, similar to Japan, American brands make up a very small percentage of sales. In Japan's case, industry analysts say that safety and testing requirements can add up to tens of thousands of dollars to the cost of American cars imported into the country. However, some industry experts said they doubt that changes to the standards and testing requirements will boost sales. In Japan, where streets are narrow and often congested, most consumers prefer small, fuel-efficient vehicles, typically with steering wheels on the right. Domestic brands like Toyota, Honda and Nissan offer a wide array of such options. For American carmakers in Japan, 'trade barriers have never been the problem,' said Tsuyoshi Kimura, a professor at Chuo University in Tokyo, who used to work at General Motors from the late 1990s through the early 2000s. Japan is a relatively small and already saturated car market, he said, so most American automakers have not put effort into designing models for the country. The lineups of American manufacturers are packed with bulky sports-utility vehicles and trucks in part because they struggle to make smaller cars profitably. 'Thinking about the basic needs of the market, their cars just don't fit,' Mr. Kimura said. 'Even if it's been declared that Japan's opening its car market, it's unlikely that American cars will sell.' Mr. Trump's fixation on American car sales in Japan echoes his past trade negotiation tactics such as his emphasis on U.S. dairy exports during his first-term formulation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, according to Alan Wolff, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. 'What could have been negotiated could have been far-reaching, and perhaps more important,' Mr. Wolff said. For example, addressing topics such exchange rates, he said. However, he added, securing agreements to open specific export sectors have 'political salience' for Mr. Trump. 'They matter to him, and therefore they matter to the United States,' he said. Mr. Ross, the former commerce secretary, agreed with this sentiment. He spent years as chairman of the Japan Society, a nonprofit dedicated to strengthening U.S.-Japan relations. He said he doubted that regulatory changes would sell customers on American cars. Still, for Mr. Ross, removing trade barriers in countries like Japan was a matter of principle. He likened the situation to a negotiation he had with a European Union official during Mr. Trump's first term about the trade bloc's ban on U.S. chicken sterilized with chlorinated wash. 'I asked, why do you have these trade barriers, and she said 'Oh, Europeans will never eat those foods,'' Mr. Ross recalled. 'I said, well, let's put them on grocery shelves and clearly mark them and if you're right, then Europeans won't eat them, we'll stop selling them, and we won't have to argue about it.' The current Trump administration has continued to pressure the European Union to buy American chickens. As part of its recent trade deal, the European Union agreed to work to address 'barriers affecting trade in food and agricultural products,' without detailing further. For others in Japan, these latest trade negotiations feel somewhat like a rerun of the 1980s and 1990s, when the United States and Japan seemed on the brink of a trade war, in part over the issue of American versus Japanese car sales. In 1995, Japan agreed to several measures, including encouraging greater dealership access for foreign cars. American sales in Japan ultimately didn't budge. But Japanese automakers at the time were investing heavily in producing vehicles in the United States and discussions about autos largely faded from U.S.-Japan trade talks. Around that time, Glen S. Fukushima, then an executive at AT&T and a vice president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan, was leaving a meeting with Walter Mondale, the U.S. Ambassador to Japan, when the diplomat noticed that Mr. Fukushima's company car in Tokyo was a Nissan. Given the recently concluded agreement aimed at securing more market access for American automakers in Japan, the ambassador suggested to Mr. Fukushima that his driver really should be driving an American car. Mr. Fukushima took the suggestion and tried out a Cadillac Fleetwood. However, it proved much too large for the turns near his Tokyo residence. He ultimately went back to his Nissan Cima and returned to Mr. Mondale to explain the situation. 'He was a reasonable man,' Mr. Fukushima said. 'He understood.' Hisako Ueno contributed reporting.
Newsweek
a minute ago
- Newsweek
Trump Admin Proposes Change for Some Green Card Applicants
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The Trump administration has proposed new changes to the process for those applying to the U.S. diversity visa (DV) lottery this week. Newsweek reached out to the Department of State for comment via contact form. Why It Matters The DV program annually offers a pathway to permanent U.S. residency for up to 50,000 immigrants from countries with historically low immigration rates to the United States. Historically, applicants haven't needed to possess a passport when they apply—only after they are selected. That would change under the new proposed rule from the State Department, which they say aims to curb alleged fraud in the program. The change notably comes as President Donald Trump has emphasized border security and ramped up immigration enforcement during his second term in office. On the campaign trail, he pledged to conduct the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history, and immigration officers have conducted raids across the country since Trump has taken office. A stock image shows a Permanent Resident green card on the American flag. A stock image shows a Permanent Resident green card on the American flag. Evgenia Parajanian/iStock via Getty Images What To Know The State Department unveiled the rule on Monday. If finalized, it could go into effect for the 2026 program. In the proposal, the State Department warned of fraud that has been in the program. "The Department has historically encountered significant numbers of fraudulent entries for the DV Program each year, including entries submitted by third parties, some of them criminal enterprises, on behalf of individuals without their knowledge. Unauthorized third parties will often then contact the unwitting individual, inform them of the opportunity to apply for a DV, and hold the entry information from the petitioner in exchange for payment or to coerce the petitioner to be complicit in certain acts of fraud," the proposal reads. Requiring passport information on the DV petition would "make it much more difficult for unauthorized third parties to enter someone with partial information," the proposal reads. "This measure would also enable the Department to more effectively and efficiently confirm petitioners' identities," it continues. "The Department also anticipates that these measures would decrease the number of fraudulent marriages encountered in the DV program." Under the proposal, applicants would have to provide a valid passport number and upload a scan or photo of the passport's photo and signature pages in JPEG format, with a file size of under 5 MB. There will be limited exceptions, including for those applicants who are stateless, citizens of communist-controlled countries who cannot readily obtain a passport, or who have an official government waive. The lottery remains free to enter and is open to nationals from eligible countries. The State Department wrote that it does "not believe that this requirement would substantially deter participation by legitimate petitioners, and the Department notes that petitioners who are selected are already required to have a passport before moving forward in the process." A similar rule change implemented during Trump's first term was struck down by a federal judge in 2022. What People Are Saying The State Department wrote: "Mandating valid passport information at the time of the DV Program entry would augment vetting and screening processes to ensure national security. It would also make it more difficult for third parties to submit an unauthorized entry because they are less likely to have the individual's unique identifiers, protecting potential petitioners by ensuring that they alone can enter the program using their unique information." What Happens Next The State Department's proposal is currently open for a 45-day period of public comment following its publication in the Federal Register on August 5.
