WSJ Opinion: The Gerrymandering Wars Heat Up
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Chicago Tribune
a minute ago
- Chicago Tribune
California pushes partisan plan for new Democratic districts to counter Texas in fight for US House
LOS ANGELES — California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday his state will hold a Nov. 4 special election to seek approval of redrawn districts intended to give Democrats five more U.S. House seats in the fight for control of Congress. The move is a direct response to a similar Republican-led effort in Texas, pushed by President Donald Trump as his party seeks to maintain its slim House majority in the midterm elections. The nation's two most populous states have emerged as the center of a partisan turf war in the House that could spiral into other states — as well as the courts — in what amounts to a proxy war ahead of the 2026 elections. Texas lawmakers are considering a new map that could help them send five more Republicans to Washington. Democrats who so far have halted a vote by leaving the state announced Thursday that they will return home if Texas Republicans end their current special session and California releases its own recast map proposal. Both were expected to happen Friday. However, Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to call another special session to push through new maps. Texas House Democrats planning their departure from Illinois and back to AustinIn Los Angeles, Newsom staged what amounted to a campaign kickoff rally for the as-yet unreleased new maps with the state's Democratic leadership in a downtown auditorium packed with union members, legislators and abortion rights supporters. Newsom and other speakers veered from discussing the technical grist of reshaping districts — known as redistricting — and instead depicted the looming battle as a conflict with all things Trump, tying it explicitly to the fate of American democracy. 'We can't stand back and watch this democracy disappear district by district all across the country,' Newsom said. 'We are not bystanders in this world. We can shape the future.' An overarching theme was the willingness to stand up to Trump, a cheer-inducing line for Democrats as the party looks to regroup from its 2024 losses. 'Donald Trump, you have poked the bear and we will punch back,' said Newsom, a possible 2028 presidential contender. Thursday's announcement marks the first time any state beyond Texas has officially waded into the mid-decade redistricting fight. The Texas plan was stalled when minority Democrats fled to Illinois, New York and Massachusetts on Aug. 3 to stop the Legislature from passing any bills. Elsewhere, leaders from red Florida to blue New York are threatening to write new maps. In Missouri, a document obtained by The Associated Press shows the state Senate received a $46,000 invoice to activate six redistricting software licenses and provide training for up to 10 staff members. In California, lawmakers must officially declare the special election, which they plan to do next week after voting on the new maps. Democrats hold supermajorities in both chambers — enough to act without any Republican votes — and Newsom said he's not worried about winning the required support from two-thirds of lawmakers to advance the maps. Newsom encouraged other Democratic-led states to get involved. 'We need to stand up — not just California. Other blue states need to stand up,' Newsom said. Republicans hold a 219-212 majority in the U.S. House, with four vacancies. New maps are typically drawn once a decade after the census is conducted. Many states, including Texas, give legislators the power to draw maps. California is among states that rely on an independent commission that is supposed to be nonpartisan. The California map would take effect only if a Republican state moves forward, and it would remain through the 2030 elections. After that, Democrats say they would return mapmaking power to the independent commission approved by voters more than a decade ago. Some people already have said they would sue to block the effort, and influential voices including former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger may campaign against it. 'Gavin Newsom's latest stunt has nothing to do with Californians and everything to do with consolidating radical Democrat power, silencing California voters, and propping up his pathetic 2028 presidential pipe dream,' National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Christian Martinez said in a statement. 'Newsom's made it clear: he'll shred California's Constitution and trample over democracy — running a cynical, self-serving playbook where Californians are an afterthought and power is the only priority.' California Democrats hold 43 of the state's 52 House seats, and the state has some of the most competitive House seats. Outside Newsom's news conference Thursday, U.S. Border Patrol agents conducted patrols, drawing condemnation from the governor and others. 'We're here making Los Angeles a safer place since we don't have politicians that will do that,' Gregory Bovino, chief of the patrol's El Centro, California, sector, told a reporter with KTTV in Los Angeles. He said he didn't know Newsom was inside nearby.
Washington Post
a minute ago
- Washington Post
In Washington police takeover, federal agents and National Guard take on new tasks
They typically investigate drug lords, weapons traffickers or cyber criminals. This week, though, federal agents are fanning out across the nation's capital as part of President Donald Trump's efforts to clamp down on crime in the city. The sometimes-masked agents joined members of the National Guard as well as the United States Park Police, whose responsibilities include protecting the country's monuments and managing crowds during demonstrations. Soldiers in fatigues kept watch near Union Station, while officers with the Drug Enforcement Administration patrolled along the National Mall. Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives helped question a couple in northwest Washington who were parked illegally and eating McDonald's takeout. Trump said Monday that he's taking over Washington's police department in hopes of reducing crime, even as city officials stressed that crime is already falling. The District of Columbia's status as a congressionally established federal district allows the president to take control, although he's limited to 30 days under statute unless he gets approval from Congress. Amid the takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department, or MPD, here's a list of some of the federal agencies involved and what they typically do: THIS WEEK: The Pentagon said that 800 Guard members have been activated for missions in Washington that include monument security, community safety patrols and beautification efforts. Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said the troops won't be armed and declined to give more details on what the safety patrols or beautification efforts would entail. The White House said Thursday that Guard members aren't making arrests but are 'protecting federal assets, providing a safe environment for law enforcement officers to make arrests, and deterring violent crime with a visible law enforcement presence.' THE BACKSTORY: The National Guard serves as the primary combat reserve of the Army and Air Force, according to its website. But it also responds when 'disaster strikes in the homeland' to protect life and property in communities. THIS WEEK: DEA agents have also fanned out across Washington, working with police on traffic stops and other enforcement efforts. The agency has touted this week that its agents have helped to recover guns and drugs. THE BACKSTORY: The agency typically enforces the nation's controlled substances laws and regulations, while going after drug cartels, gangs and traffickers in the U.S. and abroad. For example, a DEA-led investigation scored a record seizure of fentanyl in May, 'dismantling one of the largest and most dangerous drug trafficking organizations in U.S. history,' the agency said in a news release. The DEA also operates a little-known research lab in northern Virginia that's working to analyze seized narcotics to find ways to stop the supply. Its chemists identify the ever-evolving tactics employed by cartels to manufacture drugs flowing into the U.S. THIS WEEK: Agents with Homeland Security Investigations, the investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, could be seen on Wednesday alongside MPD officers as they conducted traffic checks at a checkpoint along 14th Street in northwest Washington. THE BACKSTORY: HSI investigates a wide variety of crimes on a global scale – at home, abroad and online – with hundreds of offices across the country and abroad. Those crimes include 'illegal movement of people, goods, money, contraband, weapons and sensitive technology into, out of and through the United States,' the agency says on its website. In the last few months, as the Trump administration has ramped up its immigration enforcement efforts across the U.S., HSI agents have been out on raids and involved in immigration arrests at courthouses and other sites around the country. HSI agents also investigate a vast array of crime, including cyber and financial crimes and intellectual property offenses. THIS WEEK: United States Park Police have been seen helping with traffic stops this week in the district and are a regular presence in Washington. D.C. The federal agency is actually one of the nation's oldest, being founded in 1791 by George Washington. THE BACKSTORY: The police are part of the National Park Service and has jurisdiction in all federal parks, with offices in Washington, New York and San Francisco, according to the agency's website. Before this week's takeover, it already had the authority to make an arrest in the District of Columbia. THIS WEEK: ATF agents have been helping out with traffic stops. THE BACKSTORY: The agency primarily focuses on the illegal use of guns and explosives , bombings and acts of terrorism, and the trafficking of illicit liquor or contraband tobacco.
Washington Post
a minute ago
- Washington Post
Border Patrol swarms outside L.A. venue as Democrats outline House map plans
LOS ANGELES — Border Patrol agents made a show of force Thursday outside a rally where Democrats were detailing their plans to redraw California's congressional map, fusing the two political flash points of redistricting and immigration enforcement.
