Latest news with #JoaquinCastro
CTV News
6 hours ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Texas' Republican-controlled House approves new maps to create more winnable GOP congressional seats
U.S. Congressman Joaquin Castro, right, speaks to protesters gather in the rotunda outside the House Chamber at the Texas Capitol as lawmakers debate a redrawn U.S. congressional map in Texas during a special, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas House on Wednesday approved redrawn congressional maps that would give Republicans a bigger edge in 2026, muscling through a partisan gerrymander that launched weeks of protests by Democrats and a widening national battle over redistricting. The approval came at the urging of U.S. President Donald Trump, who pushed for the extraordinary mid-decade revision of congressional maps to give his party a better chance at holding onto the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections. The maps need to be approved by the GOP-controlled state Senate and signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott before they become official. ADVERTISEMENT But the Texas House vote had presented the best chance for Democrats to derail the redraw. Democratic legislators delayed the vote by two weeks by fleeing Texas earlier this month in protest, and they were assigned round-the-clock police monitoring upon their return to ensure they attended Wednesday's session. The approval of the Texas maps on an 88-52 party-line vote is likely to prompt California's Democratic-controlled state Legislature this week to approve of a new House map creating five new Democratic-leaning districts. But the California map would require voter approval in November. Democrats have also vowed to challenge the new Texas map in court and complained that Republicans made the political power move before passing legislation responding to deadly floods that swept the state last month. Texas Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, is surrounded by fellow Republicans as he faces off with Democrats during debate over a redrawn U.S. congressional map in Texas during a special session, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/... Texas Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, is surrounded by fellow Republicans as he faces off with Democrats during debate over a redrawn U.S. congressional map in Texas during a special session, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) Texas maps openly made to help GOP Texas Republicans openly said they were acting in their party's interest. State Rep. Todd Hunter, who wrote the legislation formally creating the new map, noted that the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed politicians to redraw districts for nakedly partisan purposes. 'The underlying goal of this plan is straight forward: improve Republican political performance,' Hunter, a Republican, said on the floor. After nearly eight hours of debate, Hunter took the floor again to sum up the entire dispute as nothing more than a partisan fight. 'What's the difference, to the whole world listening? Republicans like it, and Democrats do not.' Democrats said the disagreement was about more than partisanship. 'In a democracy, people choose their representatives,' State Rep. Chris Turner said. 'This bill flips that on its head and lets politicians in Washington, D.C., choose their voters.' State Rep. John H. Bucy blamed the president. 'This is Donald Trump's map,' Bucy said. 'It clearly and deliberately manufactures five more Republican seats in Congress because Trump himself knows that the voters are rejecting his agenda.' Empty chairs belonging to House Democrats remain empty during session convocation in protest to a redistricting map in the State Capitol, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Rodolfo Gonzalez) Empty chairs belonging to House Democrats remain empty during session convocation in protest to a redistricting map in the State Capitol, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Rodolfo Gonzalez) Redistricting becomes tool nationwide in battle for US House The Republican power play has already triggered a national tit-for-tat battle as Democratic state lawmakers prepared to gather in California on Thursday to revise that state's map to create five new Democratic seats. 'This is a new Democratic Party, this is a new day, this is new energy out there all across this country,' California's Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said on a call with reporters on Wednesday. 'And we're going to fight fire with fire.' A new California map would need to be approved by voters in a special election in November because that state normally operates with a nonpartisan commission drawing the map to avoid the very sort of political brawl that is playing out. Newsom himself backed the 2008 ballot measure to create that process, as did former President Barack Obama. But in a sign of Democrats' stiffening resolve, Obama Tuesday night backed Newsom's bid to redraw the California map, saying it was a necessary step to stave off the GOP's Texas move. 'I think that approach is a smart, measured approach,' Obama said during a fundraiser for the Democratic Party's main redistricting arm. The incumbent president's party usually loses seats in the midterm election, and the GOP currently controls the House of Representatives by a mere three votes. Trump is going beyond Texas in his push to remake the map. He's pushed Republican leaders in conservative states like Indiana and Missouri to also try to create new Republican seats. Ohio Republicans were already revising their map before Texas moved. Democrats, meanwhile, are mulling reopening Maryland's and New York's maps as well. However, more Democratic-run states have commission systems like California's or other redistricting limits than Republican ones do, leaving the GOP with a freer hand to swiftly redraw maps. New York, for example, can't draw new maps until 2028, and even then, only with voter approval. A map of U.S Congressional Districts proposed plan is seen at a Texas legislators' public hearing on congressional redistricting in Austin, Texas, Aug. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, file) A map of U.S Congressional Districts proposed plan is seen at a Texas legislators' public hearing on congressional redistricting in Austin, Texas, Aug. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, file) Texas Democrats decry the new maps In Texas, there was little that outnumbered Democrats could do other than fume and threaten a lawsuit to block the map. Because the Supreme Court has blessed purely partisan gerrymandering, the only way opponents can stop the new Texas map would be by arguing it violates the Voting Rights Act requirement to keep minority communities together so they can select representatives of their choice. Democrats noted that, in every decade since the 1970s, courts have found that Texas' legislature did violate the Voting Rights Act in redistricting, and that civil rights groups had an active lawsuit making similar allegations against the 2021 map that Republicans drew up. Republicans contend the new map creates more new majority-minority seats than the previous one. Democrats and some civil rights groups have countered that the GOP does that through mainly a numbers game that leads to halving the number of the state's House seats that will be represented by a Black representative. State Rep. Ron Reynolds noted the country just marked the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act's passage and warned GOP members about how they'd be remembered if they voted for what he called 'this racial gerrymander.' 'Just like the people who were on the wrong side of history in 1965, history will be looking at the people who made the decisions in the body this day,' Reynolds, a Democrat, said. Texas state Rep Chris Turner holds a map as he asks questions during a public hearing on congressional redistricting in Austin, Texas, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) Texas state Rep Chris Turner holds a map as he asks questions during a public hearing on congressional redistricting in Austin, Texas, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) Republicans hit back at criticism Republicans spent far less time talking on Wednesday, content to let their numbers do the talking in the lopsided vote. As the day dragged on, a handful hit back against Democratic complaints. 'You call my voters racist, you call my party racist and yet we're expected to follow the rules,' said State Rep. Katrina Pierson, a former Trump spokesperson. 'There are Black and Hispanic and Asian Republicans in this chamber who were elected just like you.' House Republicans' frustration at the Democrats' flight and ability to delay the vote was palpable. The GOP used a parliamentary maneuver to take a second and final vote on the map so it wouldn't have to reconvene for one more vote after Senate approval. House Speaker Dustin Burrows announced as debate started that doors to the chamber were locked and any member leaving was required to have a permission slip. The doors were only unlocked after final passage more than eight hours later. One Democrat who refused the 24-hour police monitoring, State Rep. Nicole Collier, had been confined to the House floor since Monday night. Some Democratic state lawmakers joined Collier Tuesday night for what Rep. Cassandra Garcia Hernandez dubbed 'a sleepover for democracy.' 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 several Democrats from office. The lawmakers also face a fine of US$500 for every day they were absent. ___ Riccardi reported from Denver. John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, and Sara Cline in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, contributed to this report. Jim Vertuno And Nicholas Riccardi, The Associated Press
Winnipeg Free Press
24-07-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Democrats slam rush to redraw US House maps at first hearing in Texas
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Democrats on Thursday laid into Republicans for racing to create more winnable U.S. House seats before the 2026 elections in the first public hearing by lawmakers as they undertake a rare summer redrawing of the congressional maps at the urging of President Donald Trump. No proposals of what Texas' new congressional districts might look like were unveiled at the state Capitol, where three Democratic members of Congress joined more than 100 members of the public in rallying outside the building before waiting hours to testify before a special legislative committee. 'You all are being used,' Democratic U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro told the panel, saying it would confuse voters and motivate other states to rush to redraw their own maps. He and other Democrats blasted the justification for the unusually timed redrawing, which typically happens only once every 10 years to coincide with demographic shifts from the U.S. census. No Republicans on the 21-member panel made remarks before testimony began other than the committee chairman, Rep. Cody Vasut, who said he had not been in talks with the White House about the redrawing. 'Whether or not I think there needs to be mid-cycle redistricting is a matter of opinion,' said Vasut, when asked whether he believed it was appropriate to redraw maps in the middle of the decade. Other public hearings are planned around Texas in the coming days as the GOP has only a few weeks to vote through new maps in the 30-day special legislative session. At the same time, legislators are also balancing addressing the deadly floods in Texas Hill Country earlier this month that killed at least 136 people. Several Democratic lawmakers and residents expressed concerns that there are not enough scheduled public hearings and emphasized the need for some to take place after the legislature reveals the new congressional maps. Democrats have characterized the move as a power grab and vowed to block it by any means, including staging a walkout or filibustering, although their options are limited as the minority party in both chambers. Members walked out four years ago to protest voting restrictions, but the House had since adopted rules to fine lawmakers $500 each day they break a quorum. Democrats have tried to gain leverage by focusing on flood relief, stating that they won't engage in any other bills until then. Texas has 38 seats in the House. Republicans hold 25 and Democrats have 12, not including a vacant seat that was held by late Rep. Sylvester Turner. The GOP currently has a slim majority in the U.S. House, and Trump has said that he wants Republicans to create five more winnable seats, which could improve his party's chances of keeping in that way. There is some concern that redistricting could backfire in what's sometimes called a 'dummymander,' where rigging a map too much goes awry and gives the opposite party an advantage. The Justice Department sent a letter earlier this month to Abbott over 'constitutional concerns' that the 2021 map was racially gerrymandered. At a Senate debate earlier this week, the top Republican on the committee fielded scathing questions from Democrats about the purpose of the maps. 'I believe the map I voted for was legal,' Sen. Phil King said, referring to the 2021 maps. 'And I have no facts or supporting data or any information behind the DOJ letter.' Texas is in the middle of litigation with civil rights groups over its last maps that were drawn in 2021 who say the districts were racially gerrymandered. Trump has also urged Republicans in Ohio to create new House maps. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has said California will do the same in response. But that state designated an independent commission in 2010 to draw its maps.
Associated Press
24-07-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Democrats slam rush to redraw US House maps at first hearing in Texas
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Democrats on Thursday laid into Republicans for racing to create more winnable U.S. House seats before the 2026 elections in the first public hearing by lawmakers as they undertake a rare summer redrawing of the congressional maps at the urging of President Donald Trump. No proposals of what Texas' new congressional districts might look like were unveiled at the state Capitol, where three Democratic members of Congress joined more than 100 members of the public in rallying outside the building before waiting hours to testify before a special legislative committee. 'You all are being used,' Democratic U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro told the panel, saying it would confuse voters and motivate other states to rush to redraw their own maps. He and other Democrats blasted the justification for the unusually timed redrawing, which typically happens only once every 10 years to coincide with demographic shifts from the U.S. census. No Republicans on the 21-member panel made remarks before testimony began other than the committee chairman, Rep. Cody Vasut, who said he had not been in talks with the White House about the redrawing. 'Whether or not I think there needs to be mid-cycle redistricting is a matter of opinion,' said Vasut, when asked whether he believed it was appropriate to redraw maps in the middle of the decade. Other public hearings are planned around Texas in the coming days as the GOP has only a few weeks to vote through new maps in the 30-day special legislative session. At the same time, legislators are also balancing addressing the deadly floods in Texas Hill Country earlier this month that killed at least 136 people. Several Democratic lawmakers and residents expressed concerns that there are not enough scheduled public hearings and emphasized the need for some to take place after the legislature reveals the new congressional maps. Democrats have characterized the move as a power grab and vowed to block it by any means, including staging a walkout or filibustering, although their options are limited as the minority party in both chambers. Members walked out four years ago to protest voting restrictions, but the House had since adopted rules to fine lawmakers $500 each day they break a quorum. Democrats have tried to gain leverage by focusing on flood relief, stating that they won't engage in any other bills until then. Texas has 38 seats in the House. Republicans hold 25 and Democrats have 12, not including a vacant seat that was held by late Rep. Sylvester Turner. The GOP currently has a slim majority in the U.S. House, and Trump has said that he wants Republicans to create five more winnable seats, which could improve his party's chances of keeping in that way. There is some concern that redistricting could backfire in what's sometimes called a 'dummymander,' where rigging a map too much goes awry and gives the opposite party an advantage. The Justice Department sent a letter earlier this month to Abbott over 'constitutional concerns' that the 2021 map was racially gerrymandered. At a Senate debate earlier this week, the top Republican on the committee fielded scathing questions from Democrats about the purpose of the maps. 'I believe the map I voted for was legal,' Sen. Phil King said, referring to the 2021 maps. 'And I have no facts or supporting data or any information behind the DOJ letter.' Texas is in the middle of litigation with civil rights groups over its last maps that were drawn in 2021 who say the districts were racially gerrymandered. Trump has also urged Republicans in Ohio to create new House maps. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has said California will do the same in response. But that state designated an independent commission in 2010 to draw its maps.
Hamilton Spectator
24-07-2025
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
Democrats slam rush to redraw US House maps at first hearing in Texas
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Democrats on Thursday laid into Republicans for racing to create more winnable U.S. House seats before the 2026 elections in the first public hearing by lawmakers as they undertake a rare summer redrawing of the congressional maps at the urging of President Donald Trump. No proposals of what Texas' new congressional districts might look like were unveiled at the state Capitol, where three Democratic members of Congress joined more than 100 members of the public in rallying outside the building before waiting hours to testify before a special legislative committee. 'You all are being used,' Democratic U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro told the panel, saying it would confuse voters and motivate other states to rush to redraw their own maps. He and other Democrats blasted the justification for the unusually timed redrawing, which typically happens only once every 10 years to coincide with demographic shifts from the U.S. census. No Republicans on the 21-member panel made remarks before testimony began other than the committee chairman, Rep. Cody Vasut, who said he had not been in talks with the White House about the redrawing. 'Whether or not I think there needs to be mid-cycle redistricting is a matter of opinion,' said Vasut, when asked whether he believed it was appropriate to redraw maps in the middle of the decade. Other public hearings are planned around Texas in the coming days as the GOP has only a few weeks to vote through new maps in the 30-day special legislative session. At the same time, legislators are also balancing addressing the deadly floods in Texas Hill Country earlier this month that killed at least 136 people . Several Democratic lawmakers and residents expressed concerns that there are not enough scheduled public hearings and emphasized the need for some to take place after the legislature reveals the new congressional maps. Democrats have characterized the move as a power grab and vowed to block it by any means, including staging a walkout or filibustering, although their options are limited as the minority party in both chambers. Members walked out four years ago to protest voting restrictions, but the House had since adopted rules to fine lawmakers $500 each day they break a quorum. Democrats have tried to gain leverage by focusing on flood relief, stating that they won't engage in any other bills until then. Texas has 38 seats in the House. Republicans hold 25 and Democrats have 12, not including a vacant seat that was held by late Rep. Sylvester Turner. The GOP currently has a slim majority in the U.S. House, and Trump has said that he wants Republicans to create five more winnable seats, which could improve his party's chances of keeping in that way. There is some concern that redistricting could backfire in what's sometimes called a 'dummymander,' where rigging a map too much goes awry and gives the opposite party an advantage. The Justice Department sent a letter earlier this month to Abbott over 'constitutional concerns' that the 2021 map was racially gerrymandered. At a Senate debate earlier this week, the top Republican on the committee fielded scathing questions from Democrats about the purpose of the maps. 'I believe the map I voted for was legal,' Sen. Phil King said, referring to the 2021 maps. 'And I have no facts or supporting data or any information behind the DOJ letter.' Texas is in the middle of litigation with civil rights groups over its last maps that were drawn in 2021 who say the districts were racially gerrymandered. Trump has also urged Republicans in Ohio to create new House maps. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has said California will do the same in response. But that state designated an independent commission in 2010 to draw its maps. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Democrats call for probe into cuts at National Weather Service after Texas floods
The Trump administration is facing outrage and despair in the wake of deadly flooding in Texas, as Democrats in Congress are asking whether the president's cuts to the National Weather Service limited emergency response efforts — and, if so, how. Nearly 100 people, including more than two dozen children, have been confirmed dead and dozens more remain missing following the flooding in Kerr County. Multiple Texas officials, including the mayor of Kerrville, which suffered immense devastation, have criticized the NWS's forecasting and warnings ahead of the flood. In a letter Monday to the agency's inspector general, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., asked for an investigation into what role, if any, the Trump administration's recent layoffs and other reductions in staff may have played in the death toll and property damage. Schumer's letter cites a New York Times report that quotes former NWS officials as saying the agency's forecasts were as good as could be expected, but that key staffing shortages due to Trump's cuts left areas without officials to coordinate with local emergency managers to warn local residents and help them evacuate. 'To honor the lives of those lost, we have a responsibility to the American people to determine whether preventable failures contributed to this tragedy — and to ensure that it never happens again,' Schumer wrote. That sentiment was echoed by Texas Democrat Rep. Joaquin Castro, who said during an CNN interview over the weekend that he couldn't state conclusively that the NWS cuts had played a role in the government's readiness for and response to the Texas floods, but that an investigation is warranted. 'I don't think it's helpful to have missing key personnel from the National Weather Service,' Castro said. in response to a question about how cuts at the agency may have affected readiness and response to the flooding. Trump said Sunday he opposes an investigation into the NWS, and the White House has said it is 'disgusting' and 'false' to link vacancies at the organization to the flood response in any way. Needless to say, that defensiveness is unlikely to stop inquiries into whether the administration's slash-and-burn approach to the federal bureaucracy contributed to a more deadly outcome in Texas — just as some people feared it would. This article was originally published on
