New District Map Heads for Texas House Floor

A Texas legislative committee voted Saturday to send a new map of the state's congressional districts, redrawn at President Trump's request to help elect more Republicans, to the full House for approval. That sets the redistricting up to pass: The GOP holds an 88-62 majority in the chamber, the Hill reports, and Democrats have few options for blocking it. Republicans hold 25 of the state's 38 congressional seats; Trump's goal is 30, per the New York Times. The committee voted yes despite holding a 15-hour public hearing in Austin the day before, in which nearly all the testimony was opposed.

Among those testifying were Democratic members of Congress who told the committee the plan would violate the federal Voting Rights Act and hurt Black and Hispanic communities. Rep. Al Green of Houston called the map racist, and Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas said she'll challenge it in court if it passes. A legal challenge could tie up the map for months or years, per the Texas Tribune. Republicans' response to the racism allegation was, for the first time, to say the redrawing is for political gain. State Rep. Todd Hunter said the new boundaries were created "for partisan purposes" and not based on race, per the Times. He said the final map is "completely transparent, and it's lawful."

Democrats could leave Texas to prevent a quorum, as they did before in a similar situations. That's only a short-term solution, though, per the Hill. Among the problems with that is that Republicans haven't yet introduced bills in response to the Hill Country flooding, so Democrats would be blamed for holding aid up. But Ken Martin, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said Saturday that his party will fight the redistricting. As it is, a House vote could take place Monday or Tuesday. "This is not a Texas map. It is a Trump map,"" said US Rep. Lloyd Doggett said at the hearing. "It was imposed by President Trump, who has a stranglehold on Congress, and the only question here is whether he also has a stranglehold on this Texas Legislature."