'We are at war' Texas redistricting plan sparks national fight over Congress, Trump legacy

USA Today

6 hours ago

The Trump-inspired plan aimed at redrawing Texas' congressional maps has thrust the nation into a gerrymander war with massive implications
Texas has ripped open a nasty fight in its legislative halls of power that could determine who controls the U.S. Congress and the fate of President Donald Trump's final two years in office.
Republican legislators in Austin have redrawn the Lone Star State's congressional maps after pressure from the president's political operatives, who are nervous that Democrats might win control of the House – as is customary for the party out of power – in 2026.
The new maps, advanced by a Texas legislative committee on Aug. 2, create five new GOP-leaning districts and target Democratic incumbents, which would give Republicans in Congress more cushion to defend their slim House majority in other states ahead of the midterm elections.
Texas Democrats have left the state in an attempt to sabotage the Republican plan, which has a 30-day time limit in the special session that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott convened on July 25.
"Gerrymandering can be done, or drawing lines, can be done on the basis of political makeup, as in Republicans versus Democrats, and there's nothing illegal about that," Abbott said in an Aug. 4 interview with Fox News.
"All of these districts that are being added are districts that were won by Trump."
Voting rights advocates argue these changes, however, will suppress Black and Hispanic voters in a move that has set off a partisan tug-of-war, which carries significant ramifications for the Trump administration and the Democrats.
Republicans are fearful Trump will be impeached for a third time should Democrats win back the House, and progressives have equally fretted that the president and his allies are looking to tilt the election scales and lock them out of power for the foreseeable future as the administration continues to bulldoze its agenda through despite resistance.
Stepping into that leadership void are Democratic governors, some with presidential aspirations, who are pledging to counter Texas by creating maps in large blue states that would offset GOP gains by targeting Republican members of Congress.
Here are the key takeaways from the Texas redistricting standoff.
Escape from Texas: Democrats have fled to block GOP-favored maps
States are required to come up with new lines every decade based on the U.S. Census, but when legislatures have the power, they occasionally step in to make new maps before the decade ends.
Such is the case in Texas, where in the statehouse Republicans hold 88 out of 150 seats, leaving the 62-member Democratic caucus with very few options to stop the new congressional districts from taking effect.
That means they're taking drastic measures. And the first step is depriving Texas Republicans of a needed 100-member quorum to proceed with a vote by leaving the state and forcing the legislature's ongoing special session to a halt.
"This is not a decision we make lightly, but it is one we make with absolute moral clarity," state Rep. Gene Wu, who is chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, said in a statement.
The move also jeopardizes other issues on the special session's menu, such as addressing funding for flood prevention in the wake of the deadly July 4 flash flooding that killed more than 130 people along the Guadalupe River.
Under the new maps, Texas' congressional districts in the Houston, Austin and Dallas metro areas would be sliced up, along with a handful in southern Texas, creating five additional districts that would have heavily favored Trump in last year's presidential race.
"They're turning our districts into crazy shapes to guarantee the outcome they want in the 2026 elections," Rep. James Talarico said in an Aug. 3 video posted on X. "If this power grab succeeds, they will hang onto power without any accountability from the voters."
Abbott threatens expulsion and even felony charges against Dems
Abbott has defended the mid-cycle redistricting effort as necessary after receiving a July 7 letter from the Justice Department that cites "constitutional concerns" about the existing congressional boundaries.
He is now threatening the lawmakers who've left town with expulsion if they do not return by Aug. 4, arguing the Democrats' "deliberate plan not to show up for work" amounts to forfeiting their elected office.
The governor also alluded to criminal charges, suggesting the lawmakers who abandoned ship may "also have committed felonies."
"It seems to me that the only way some of the fleeing Democrats can avoid bribery charges is to not break quorum," Abbott said in an Aug. 3 post on X. "It seems that would eliminate any potential quid pro quo connected to any payment they received to deny a quorum and skip a vote."
Other conservative leaders in the state, such as Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who was impeached by the Texas House on bribery charges in 2023, used sharper language. He said absconding legislators will be "found, arrested, and brought back" to the state.
"We should use every tool at our disposal to hunt down those who think they are above the law," Paxton said.
Under Texas House rules, the legislature can issue civil arrest warrants and have the Sergeant at Arms force a member's attendance in a state that would cooperate.
Members who don't show up also face a $500-a-day fine, and Texas Democrats began fundraising last month to cover those costs. But breaking quorum isn't against the law, which means federal agencies do not have the authority to bring those lawmakers back by force.
'Gloves are off' Democratic governors provide haven, hatch own map plans
Several Texas Democrats left for bluer pastures, such as Illinois and New York, where governors have indicated that they'd pursue creating new maps that favor their party should the Trump-inspired plan move ahead.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul held an Aug. 4 press conference during which she discussed the possibility of new maps and delivered a stark message about how Democrats view this fight.
"This is a war. We are at war," she said. "And that's why the gloves are off and I say, 'Bring it on.'"
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, joined Texas Democratic lawmakers at their press conference this past weekend. He has reportedly helped them find lodging and other accommodations, saying "everything is on the table," and that includes the Prairie State coming up with new maps, too.
"Trump came up with a new scheme to rig the system by ramming through a corrupt, mid-decade redistricting plan that would steal five congressional seats, silencing millions of voters, especially Black and Latino voters," Pritzker said.
The same goes for California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom, another possible White House contender, cast the clash as a fight for democracy. He has proposed temporarily setting aside his state's independent redistricting commission.
Democrats dominate the Golden State, holding 43 out of 52 congressional seats.
Newsom indicated the president would reap what he sowed if he continued this fight.
"Buckle up, Donald Trump. California is about to get a whole lot bluer, thanks to you," Newsom said in an Aug. 1 post on X.
Trump's remaining time in power at stake
Democrats have an opening to take back the House of Representatives, where the GOP holds a narrow 220-212 majority, and the 2026 midterms will determine how Trump's presidency ends – including how he tries to spend money, any laws he wants to try to pass and, importantly, whether he faces a third round of impeachment proceedings.
Next year's mid-term elections are expected to be tight contests across the board, particularly with Republicans having to defend Trump's agenda, which includes tax cuts and Medicaid reforms.
If Democrats can win a majority in one chamber of Congress, they would be in a position to block Trump's remaining legislative priorities, which would significantly hamper his power for the rest of his term. It would also give them subpoena authority in powerful committees, which would force the administration and other witnesses to testify and hand over key documents.
After the 2018 midterms during Trump's first term in office, the president and his goals were put on their heels and he saw a series of investigations against him, his administration and his allies.
"Republicans are afraid to face voters in a free and fair election," Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, the House minority leader, said in an Aug. 3 post on X responding to the Texas attorney general.
"That's the reason the extremists want to gerrymander the Texas congressional map and steal five seats. Look in the mirror and you'll see the face of a coward."
Republicans aren't stopping with Texas
Whatever happens in Texas, the fight over Congress via redistricting will continue in Ohio later this month, where Republicans hold a supermajority in the state legislature.
GOP operatives believe they can pick up a couple of seats in the Buckeye State, which has a congressional delegation made up of 10 Republicans and 5 Democrats. Trump won the state by 11% last year.
Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, has already telegraphed that the plan is to create at least two GOP-leaning districts, likely targeting Democratic Reps. Marcy Kaptur and Emilia Sykes, who represent Toledo and Akron, respectively.
Under the Ohio process, each chamber must have three-fifths of its members agree on the new maps. If the legislature can't reach a consensus, then the Ohio Redistricting Commission (which is controlled mostly by Republicans) takes over, but would return the matter to legislators if they can't come up with a plan within a month.