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Reuters
21 minutes ago
- Reuters
Texas Democratic lawmakers end walkout, setting stage for vote on redrawn map
Aug 18 (Reuters) - Democratic lawmakers in Texas returned to the state on Monday, ending a two-week walkout that broke quorum and temporarily blocked Republican efforts to redraw congressional maps at the behest of U.S. President Donald Trump. Texas House of Representatives Minority Leader Gene Wu, chairperson of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, said in a statement that Democrats returned because they had achieved their two main goals. The first was to block a vote on new congressional maps in a first special legislative session that ended Friday. The second goal was to prompt California and other Democratic-led states to consider redrawing their own maps to offset any seats Republicans might gain in Texas. "We're returning to Texas more dangerous to Republicans' plans than when we left," Wu said. "Our return allows us to build the legal record necessary to defeat this racist map in court, take our message to communities across the state and country." Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows, a Republican, gaveled in the session at 12 p.m. local time on Monday, with enough Democrats present to have a quorum. "We are done waiting. We have a quorum. Now is the time for action," Burrows said on opening the session. Burrows said that the Democrats who had left the state but whom were present on Monday would only be allowed to leave the House chambers if they agreed to be released into the custody of an agent from the Texas Department of Public Safety, who would ensure they are present at House sessions going forward. More than 50 Texas House Democrats left the state on August 3 and most headed to Illinois, aiming to deny Republicans enough lawmakers in attendance to hold a vote on redistricting legislation - a tactic used several times in the past, mostly without success. Republican leaders in Texas issued civil arrest warrants for the Democrats, which could only be acted on within the borders of the state, and sought their extradition from Illinois, which a judge in that state rejected. Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Friday called a second special legislation session in another attempt to rework the state's congressional maps in an effort to give Republicans another five seats in Congress. With Republicans dominating the Texas House and Senate, quick passage of the new maps is almost certain. Abbott didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the Democrats' return. Trump believes redistricting would help maintain Republicans' slim control of Congress in midterm elections next year. But Democrats are threatening retaliation, launching what could build into an all-out national redistricting war across several states. Gavin Newsom, California's Democratic Governor, on Thursday unveiled his own redistricting plan that he said would give Democrats there five more congressional seats. Legislation that would allow California voters to approve new maps is expected to be introduced on Monday.
Reuters
22 minutes ago
- Reuters
Newsmax settles Dominion defamation case for $67 million, says it couldn't get fair trial
WILMINGTON, DEL., Aug 18 (Reuters) - Newsmax Media (NMAX.N), opens new tab has agreed to pay $67 million to Dominion Voting Systems to settle a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit over false claims that the voting machine company rigged the 2020 election against U.S. President Donald Trump, it said on Monday. In an unusual statement, Newsmax said it chose to settle because the Delaware judge handling the case was prejudiced against the company, and it stood by its coverage as fair and balanced. The Delaware Superior Court declined to comment. Denver-based Dominion had sought $1.6 billion when it filed the lawsuit in 2021, accusing Newsmax of spreading false claims that Dominion helped steal the election for President Joe Biden. Newsmax and Newsmax Broadcasting LLC agreed to pay Dominion and its affiliates over three installments, starting with $27 million that was paid on Friday. Newsmax will pay $20 million on January 15 and another $20 million on January 15, 2027. The company said it would be paid from its revenue. "We are pleased to have settled this matter," a Dominion spokesperson said in a statement. Newsmax stock rose around 5% on the New York Stock Exchange to $12.75 a share. The company said Monday's agreement resolved all litigation against it over its coverage of the 2020 election when Biden defeated Trump, who then beat Biden in 2024. "From the very beginning, Judge (Eric) Davis ruled in ways that strongly favored the plaintiffs and limited Newsmax's ability to defend itself," Newsmax said. It said it was being punished for not being sympathetic to Biden, who is from Delaware. Newsmax said Davis deprived the company of its ability to present a full defense when he ruled in April that Newsmax published defamatory and false statements. While Davis said damages would be determined by a jury trial that was expected later this year, Newsmax said he refused to let the jury hear that Fox Corp (FOXA.O), opens new tab and Fox News agreed to pay $787.5 million to Dominion in 2023 to settle similar defamation claims. Newsmax said that information was critical for the jury to understand that Dominion had already been compensated, according to Newsmax. The Fox case was also overseen by Davis. The case was filed in Delaware, where Newsmax was incorporated at the time. It has since reincorporated in Florida, one of many large public companies that have left the state due to alleged bias in its courts. Newsmax also paid $40 million to settle allegations brought by another voting machine company, Smartmatic, in a separate case that was also overseen by Davis. On Monday, Trump said on social media he would move to get rid of mail-in ballots as well as "seriously controversial" voting machines. He did not identify voting machines from any particular company.
BBC News
22 minutes ago
- BBC News
Texas Democrats return home 'victorious' after redistricting row
Democrats who fled Texas in order to slow Republicans' plans to redraw voting maps say they have returned to the state capital "victorious".After a weeks-long standoff, the lawmakers said on Monday they are now "more dangerous to Republicans' plans than when we left," and they will "build the legal record necessary to defeat this racist map in court". Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has already called another session where legislators are expected to approve plans aimed at shoring up the Republican majority in the US House of Representatives in the 2026 Democrat-led states are now pushing to redo their maps in the hopes of offsetting those gains and possibly taking the majority. Abbott had said that in "running and hiding from a fight", Democrats also walked away from voting on other issues important to Texas, such as relief funds for areas hurt by deadly floods earlier this summer."Texans deserve leaders who show up, not ones who abandon their duties," he Wu, chairman of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, said that he had upheld his duties in leading Democrats out of the state. That broke the quorum of lawmakers needed to hold a vote on the Republican likelihood of them halting those plans entirely was always low, but Democrats had said they would return to the Republican-majority state if two conditions were met: ending the special session and raising national awareness about the redistricting plan."We killed the corrupt special session, withstood unprecedented surveillance and intimidation, and rallied Democrats nationwide to join this existential fight for fair representation — reshaping the entire 2026 landscape," Wu said in a also said his party is prepared to launch the next phase in their fight against gerrymandering - the redrawing of electoral boundaries to favour a political party. Democrats contend that the new Texas maps go against the 1965 Voting Rights Act, meant to prevent racial discrimination in voting, and the US Constitution. They say they are preparting to demonstrate that the Texas map violates federal law and should be overturned. The Republicans' map, they argue, erases decades of hard-fought gains for Black and Latino member of the US House represents a district in their home state. The districts are typically set after after the US Census conducted every decade to account for the states' population changes. But Republicans and Democrats are now fighting to redraw the maps mid-decade, either to help or block President Donald Trump's agenda. California, New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Maryland are among the Democrat-led states prepared to launch countermeasures to the Texas Thursday, California Governor Gavin Newsom said he will ask voters in his state to approve new maps ahead of the midterm elections at the end of 2026, In California, voting maps are typically drawn by an independent commission but Newsom's plan, if approved, is expected to give at least five additional congressional seats to Democrats, nullifying the five seats Abbott and Trump hope to gain in Texas.
