Texas Democrats seek to block redistricting vote by leaving state
President Donald Trump has championed the redistricting plan, telling reporters he expects the effort to yield as many as five additional House Republicans. Republicans hold a narrow 220-212 majority in the House of Representatives, with three Democratic-held seats vacant after members' deaths.
In a video shot in front of an airport, Democratic Representative James Talarico said the redistricting plan amounted to "rigging" the 2026 elections.
"If you're seeing this video, my Democratic colleagues and I have just left our beloved state to break quorum and stop Trump's redistricting power grab," Talarico said in the video posted on X on Sunday.
More: Texas GOP eyes redistricting, Dems poised to hit back. What to know.
Several other Texas Democrats said on X they were headed to Illinois, whose governor is Democrat J.B. Pritzker.
States are required to redistrict every 10 years based on the U.S. Census but the Texas map was passed just four years ago by the Republican-dominated legislature. While mid-cycle redistricting occasionally takes place, it is usually prompted by a change in power at the legislature.
Republicans have pursued redistricting in a special legislative session that will also address funding for flood prevention in the wake of the deadly July 4 flash flooding that killed more than 130.
Under the current lines, Republicans control 25 seats, nearly two-thirds of the districts in a state that went for Trump last year by a 56% to 42% margin.
Redistricting experts have said the plan could backfire if Republicans try to squeeze too many seats out of what is already considered a significantly skewed map.
Republican Governor Greg Abbott's office did not respond to a request for comment about the Democrats' move on Sunday.
(Reporting by Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
5 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Fmr. Commerce Sec. Wilbur Ross explains Trump's BLS suspicions
Tariffs on countries like Japan and Switzerland remain in place as Trump pushes to improve the US trade balance. Wilbur Ross, former US Commerce Secretary, joins Opening Bid to discuss trade policy and prospects for a China deal. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Opening Bid. So what's next on the trade deal front? Want to welcome back onto Opening Bid, longtime investor Wilbur Ross. Mr. Ross served as the U.S. Commerce Secretary in President Trump's first term and has had a close relationship with the president for decades. Mr. Secretary, always nice to get some time with you. Appreciate you coming on here. Um, before we get into the topic of trade, I'm sure you've seen what's been going on, uh, with the president, uh, dismissing or firing the BLS commissioner. You know, you're a longtime investor. Do you still believe that the economic data coming out of the government? Well, I think what is a little bit suspicious about the most recent BLS data is it came out shortly after the Fed FOMC meeting where Trump was hoping to get rates reduced. And clearly, if the two big revisions had come out before the meeting, it would have been more likely that the FOMC would cut rates. And that's the second time that that sort of suspicious behavior occurred. Remember, just before the presidential election, they also had two months of very good, uh, labor results, and then a day or two after the election, they made a massive correction in both months. Again, had that been out before the election, it would have been helpful to Trump. So, I can understand why he would be suspicious at least of the timing as to whether the underlying data themselves are correct. I I would really have no way to know. But it is a little spooky that there were two recent events, big numbers, big changes, uh, that could have helped Trump, had they been more timely. Do you believe, uh, Mr. Secretary, uh, before we get into the trade, I, like the president, noted on Friday after the numbers were hit, that this data is rigged, not only the jobs data, but perhaps other data that the government provides? Well, I think that's just speculation. Um, I certainly never tried to influence the data that came out of the Bureau of Economic Analysis, which is part of Department of Commerce. We never had any problems like that during my term. But we also never had the kinds of events that I just described to you that naturally make one a little suspicious. Mr. Secretary, on the on the trade front, um, since we last talked, tariffs have stayed in place for many countries. I mentioned Japan at 15%, Switzerland now at 39%. Are tariffs the new normal for the duration of the president's, uh, second term here in your view? Or is there an opportunity to take these 15% tariff rates that that Japan is now paying and negotiate them down further? Well, I think the president has made clear that if there are further reductions by other countries, that he would take that into account. So, his target is really improving our balance of trade. That's one of his major objectives. And that can either be done by holding back the trade of foreign countries through tariffs or by everybody cutting it together. So, I think trade policy will continue to be a centerpiece of his administration, but that doesn't mean everything will be increasing. What gets, uh, a deal with China over the finish line? Well, China, as you know, is going to be having their big party Congress very, very shortly. And, as you may know, I've felt for some time that it was unlikely that they would make a radical change in policy before the Party Congress. They don't normally do that. And, uh, I think that Congress is either this week or next week. So, we should know pretty soon if anything different will come out of that. But certainly, the news that was out today about the critical materials, uh, being still restricted, that was not very encouraging. Uh, Mr. Secretary, the fact that China has not solidified a deal with the U.S. on trade, is it likely then that its tariff rate will be higher than what we saw, uh, from the likes of Japan and, of course, the European Union? Well, it's up pretty high right now. And it's, um, I I don't know whether he would make it even higher, but, you know, once you get to about 30 or so percent on the tariffs, it doesn't make too much difference if you go beyond because 30 odd percent is very, very hard for a country to absorb. And as a result, 30 or so percent is the demarcation between are you going to be doing trade with them or not. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
5 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump's Former Labor Statistics Chief Says There's 'No Way' Jobs Numbers Were 'Rigged'
A former commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics said there's 'no way' the jobs numbers could be 'rigged' as President Donald Trump alleged during his shock shake-up of the agency. Trump-appointed William Beach criticized the president after hefired Commissioner Erika McEntarfer on Friday. Trump, without evidence, said she had manipulated job numbers for political purposes. Her dramatic removal came after a July jobs report was weaker than expected and after the BLS significantly revised down the gains from the two prior months. Over the weekend, White House advisers scrambled to defend Trump's decision against accusations from Democrats that the president is 'acting like a dictator.' National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett struggled to provide evidence that the data had been falsified during a Sunday appearance on NBC's 'Meet the Press.' Hassett said that bringing in Trump's 'own people' would make the process more 'transparent and reliable' in the future. Beach, who Trump picked in his first term to head the BLS, appeared on CNN's 'State of the Union' on Sunday to defend his successor. Host Kasie Hunt said to Beach, 'The president said that the BLS commissioner rigged these numbers. What do you think?' 'There's no way for that to happen,' said Beach, who was replaced by McEntarfer in January 2024. 'The commissioner doesn't do anything to collect the numbers. The commissioner doesn't see the numbers until Wednesday before they're published. By the time the commissioner sees the numbers, they're all prepared. They're locked into the computer system. The only thing the commissioner does on Wednesday is to kind of do the edits on the text.' Studies indicate that the agency's data is more accurate than 20 or 30 years ago, Beach said. He added that he didn't think 'there's any grounds at all for this firing' and that the move 'undermines credibility in BLS.' BLS is in charge of producing monthly reports, which show the number of jobs that have been added or lost, and revisions are common as the agency receives more data from differentemployers. 'Every year we've revised the numbers,' Beach said. 'When I was commissioner, we had a 500,000 job revision during President Trump's first term.' He added, 'And why do we do that? Because firms are created or firms go out of business, and we don't really know that during the course of the year, until we reconcile against a real full count of all the businesses.' Watch part of the interview below. Related... Trump's Top Economic Adviser Fails To Offer Evidence That Jobs Reports Were 'Rigged' Ex-Treasury Secretary Calls Trump Worse Than Nixon After Jobs Report Tantrum Trump Fires Labor Statistics Head In Meltdown Over Grim Jobs Report
Yahoo
5 minutes ago
- Yahoo
EU to suspend US tariff countermeasures for 6 months
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Union will suspend its two packages of countermeasures to U.S. tariffs for six months following a deal with U.S. President Donald Trump, a Commission spokesperson said on Monday. The EU-U.S. agreement leaves many questions open, including tariff rates on spirits, and Trump's executive order last week setting tariffs on most EU goods at 15% did not include carve-outs such as for cars and car parts. EU officials have said they expect more executive orders to follow soon. "The EU continues to work with the U.S. to finalise a Joint Statement, as agreed on 27 July," the spokesperson said in a statement. "With these objectives in mind, the Commission will take the necessary steps to suspend by 6 months the EU's countermeasures against the US, which were due to enter into force on 7 August." The retaliatory tariffs are in two parts: one in response to U.S. steel and aluminium duties, and the other to Trump's baseline and car tariffs. Sign in to access your portfolio
