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San Francisco Chronicle
a minute ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
First domino in national redistricting fight likely to fall with Texas GOP poised for vote on maps
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The first domino in a growing national redistricting battle is likely to fall Wednesday as the Republican-controlled Texas legislature is expected to pass a new congressional map creating five new winnable seats for the GOP. The vote follows prodding by President Donald Trump, eager to stave off a midterm defeat that would deprive his party of control of the House of Representatives, and weeks of delays after dozens of Texas Democratic state lawmakers fled the state in protest. Some Democrats returned Monday, only to be assigned round-the-clock police escorts to ensure their attendance at Wednesday's session. Those who refused to be monitored were confined to the House floor, where they protested on a livestream Tuesday night. Furious national Democrats have vowed payback for the Texas map, with California's legislature poised to approve new maps adding more Democratic-friendly seats later this week. The map would still need to be approved by that state's voters in November. Normally, states redraw maps once a decade with new census figures. But Trump is lobbying other conservative-controlled states like Indiana and Missouri to also try to squeeze new GOP-friendly seats out of their maps as his party prepares for a difficult midterm election next year. In Texas, Democrats spent the day before the vote continuing to draw attention to the extraordinary lengths the Republicans who run the legislature were going to ensure it takes place. Democratic state Rep. Nicole Collier started it when she refused to sign what Democrats called the 'permission slip' needed to leave the House chamber, a half-page form allowing Department of Public Safety troopers to follow them. She spent Monday night and Tuesday on the House floor, where she set up a livestream while her Democratic colleagues outside had plainclothes officers following them to their offices and homes. Dallas-area Rep. Linda Garcia said she drove three hours home from Austin with an officer following her. When she went grocery shopping, he went down every aisle with her, pretending to shop, she said. As she spoke to The Associated Press by phone, two unmarked cars with officers inside were parked outside her home. 'It's a weird feeling,' she said. 'The only way to explain the entire process is: It's like I'm in a movie.' The trooper assignments, ordered by Republican House Speaker Dustin Burrows, was another escalation of a redistricting battle that has widened across the country. Trump is pushing GOP state officials to tilt the map for the 2026 midterms more in his favor to preserve the GOP's slim House majority, and Democrats nationally have rallied around efforts to retaliate. Other Democrats join the protest House Minority Leader Gene Wu, from Houston, and state Rep. Vince Perez, of El Paso, stayed overnight with Collier, who represents a minority-majority district in Fort Worth. On Tuesday, more Democrats returned to the Capitol to tear up the slips they had signed and stay on the House floor, which has a lounge and restrooms for members. Dallas-area Rep. Cassandra Garcia Hernandez called their protest a 'slumber party for democracy,' and she said Democrats were holding strategy sessions on the floor. 'We are not criminals,' Houston Rep. Penny Morales Shaw said. Collier said having officers shadow her was an attack on her dignity and an attempt to control her movements. Republican leader says Collier 'is well within her rights' Burrows brushed off Collier's protest, saying he was focused on important issues, such as providing property tax relief and responding to last month's deadly floods. His statement Tuesday morning did not mention redistricting, and his office did not immediately respond to other Democrats joining Collier. 'Rep. Collier's choice to stay and not sign the permission slip is well within her rights under the House Rules,' Burrows said. Under those rules, until Wednesday's scheduled vote, the chamber's doors are locked, and no member can leave 'without the written permission of the speaker.' To do business Wednesday, 100 of 150 House members must be present. The GOP wants 5 more seats in Texas The GOP plan is designed to send five additional Republicans from Texas to the U.S. House. Texas Democrats returned to Austin after Democrats in California launched an effort to redraw their state's districts to take five seats from Republicans. Democrats also said they were returning because they expect to challenge the new maps in court. Republicans issued civil arrest warrants to bring the Democrats back after they left the state Aug. 3, and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott asked the state Supreme Court to oust Wu and several other Democrats from office. The lawmakers also face a fine of $500 for every day they were absent. How officers shadowed Democratic lawmakers Democrats reported different levels of monitoring. Houston Rep. Armando Walle said he wasn't sure where his police escort was, but there was still a heightened police presence in the Capitol, so he felt he was being monitored closely. Some Democrats said the officers watching them were friendly. But Austin Rep. Sheryl Cole said in a social media post that when she went on her morning walk Tuesday, the officer following her lost her on the trail, got angry and threatened to arrest her. Garcia said her 9-year-old son was with her as she drove home, and each time she looked in the rearview mirror, she could see the officer close behind. He came inside a grocery store where she shopped with her son. 'I would imagine that this is the way it feels when you're potentially shoplifting and someone is assessing whether you're going to steal," she said.
CNN
2 minutes ago
- CNN
5 things to know for August 20: Smithsonian, Immigration, DC, Texas redistricting, Covid-19
Hurricane Erin may not be forecast to make landfall, but the sprawling Category 2 storm is still going to impact much of the East Coast as it tracks north this week. On Tuesday, North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein declared a state of emergency to prepare for the life-threatening rip currents and storm surge expected to affect the coastal region. Here's what else you need to know to get up to speed and on with your day. President Donald Trump escalated his rhetoric about the Smithsonian Institution on Tuesday, alleging that its museums were too focused on the negative aspects of US history, including 'how bad slavery was.' The comments, which he posted on his social media site, came a week after the White House ordered a review of the Smithsonian's museums and exhibits 'to ensure alignment with the President's directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.' If the Smithsonian refuses to purge materials that conflict with Trump's political directives, it could suffer a fate similar to the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities. Both organizations lost tens of millions of dollars in federal funding earlier this year, which has affected small museums, libraries, arts programs and research projects across the country. People applying to live or work in the US will now be screened for 'anti-Americanism' in their immigration applications, authorities said Tuesday. According to a policy update by US Citizenship & Immigration Services, immigration officers will be able to scrutinize applicants' social media posts for any 'anti-American activity.' Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, compared the move to McCarthyism in the 1950s, when authorities prosecuted left-wing individuals amid a widespread public panic over communism and its influence on US institutions. 'The term (anti-Americanism) has no prior precedent in immigration law and its definition is entirely up to the Trump (administration),' Reichlin-Melnick said. More National Guard troops arrived in Washington, DC, on Tuesday to assist in President Trump's emergency crime crackdown in the nation's capital. The troops, which were deployed from West Virginia, could begin operations as soon as today, a defense official told CNN. Republican governors from five other states — Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee — have also promised to deploy their National Guard troops and escalate Trump's efforts to amass armed forces in the capital. Although the president has repeatedly complained about rising crime in DC, overall crime numbers are lower this year than in 2024. Some Texas House Democrats ripped up agreements to leave the House floor under police escort and spent Tuesday night in the chamber in protest. They joined state Rep. Nicole Collier, who on Monday refused to 'sign away my dignity as a duly elected representative just so Republicans can control my movements and monitor me with police escorts.' Texas Republicans' efforts to redraw the state's congressional districts in the middle of the decade were hindered when dozens of quorum-breaking Democratic House members left the state. Upon their return to the Capitol on Monday, House Speaker Dustin Burrows ordered constraints put on their movements. The Texas House is aiming to vote on the redistricting measure after it reconvenes today, and Republicans are expected to move quickly to approve their new map, which could potentially eliminate five Democratic US House seats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. With Covid-19 levels on the rise in the US, and transmission increasing in at least 45 states, the American Academy of Pediatrics released its updated recommendations for vaccines on Tuesday, including Covid-19 shots. The AAP's guidance is a break from the current CDC recommendations and defies HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who announced in May that the CDC would no longer recommend Covid-19 vaccines for healthy children or pregnant women. The AAP, on the other hand, recommends that all children, ages 6 months through 23 months, should receive a Covid-19 vaccine unless they have allergies to the vaccine or its ingredients. It also recommends a single dose of the vaccine for children ages 2 through 18 years if they are at high risk of Covid-19, residents of long-term care facilities, have never been vaccinated against Covid-19 or live in a household with people who are high risk for Covid-19. GET '5 THINGS' IN YOUR INBOX If your day doesn't start until you're up to speed on the latest headlines, then let us introduce you to your new favorite morning fix. Sign up here for the '5 Things' newsletter. The public is urged not to eat certain bags of shrimp sold at Walmart, citing concerns about unsanitary conditions and radioactive contamination. Her husband, writer/director Jeff Baena, died in January at the age of 47. That's what major food companies are hoping as they tap celebrities to create new flavors. The list includes popular slang like 'broligarchy' and 'dululu.' And will Taylor Swift's new album, which will be available on cassette, turn the trend into a revival? 460 millionThat's how many metric tons of plastic are made each year. 'I represent every Palestinian woman and child whose strength the world needs to see. We are more than our suffering — we are resilience, hope, and the heartbeat of a homeland that lives on through us.' — Nadeen Ayoub Ayoub will become the first woman to represent the Palestinian people at the Miss Universe pageant. 🌤️ Check your local forecast to see what you can expect. It's cool. The '80s are back. Today's edition of 5 Things AM was edited and produced by CNN's Andrew Torgan.
Business Insider
2 minutes ago
- Business Insider
Elon Musk says Tesla's new six-seat Model Y might never come to the US
Tesla's new six-seat Model Y is creating plenty of buzz in China — but don't expect to see it in the US anytime soon. CEO Elon Musk said on Wednesday that the Model Y L, an extended version of Tesla's most popular vehicle with three rows of seats, might never arrive on American shores. "This variant of the Model Y doesn't start production in the US until the end of next year. Might not ever, given the advent of self-driving in America," wrote Musk in a post on X. The Model Y L, which adds new features including a rear row of foldable seats and powered armrests, went on sale for $47,200 in China on Tuesday. Its launch comes as Tesla battles fierce competition from local EV players like BYD, Xiaomi, and Xpeng. Electric vehicle adoption in China is far higher than in the US, and Chinese companies have rapidly taken market share with a wave of affordable electric models packed with high-tech features, including autonomous driving and voice controls. The Model Y, China's best-selling SUV, is facing a number of new challengers. In June, smartphone giant-turned EV maker Xiaomi launched the YU7, an electric SUV priced just below the Model Y. Xiaomi says the YU7 received nearly 300,000 preorders in an hour after it launched. EV startups Xpeng and Nio have also unveiled their own Model Y rivals in recent weeks. In the US, where Chinese EVs are not available due to high tariffs, Tesla has increasingly focused on its robotaxi and ride-hailing services. The company launched its first robotaxi service, which is currently invite-only, in Austin in June. Musk has predicted that driverless vehicles will become the norm over the next decade, and told investors last October that building a regular non-robotaxi model would be "pointless." The last new product Tesla launched in the US was the Cybertruck, which has been a sales flop since it made its debut in 2023. The company has said it is planning to release an affordable model, which Musk has described as "just a Model Y," in the fourth quarter of 2025.
