Originally published at: Status Check on Trump’s Nationwide Gerrymandering Assault to Predetermine Control of Congress - TPM – Talking Points Memo
For months now, the Trump administration has been aggressively pressuring red states around the country to gerrymander their congressional maps. It’s part of a sweeping and unprecedented scheme for which President Trump has often been a mouthpiece, aimed at making it easier for Republicans to maintain control of the U.S. House in the 2026 midterm…
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Thanks for this concise summary! Every seat counts … and moreover, every seat is occupied by an individual. They don’t always vote in lockstep with their party: witness Thune and Collins, to name but a few. Also Fetterman. That’s what makes politics so much “fun.”
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First thing I see today… trump’s ugly puckerd lips
Ewww…
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Ya know, there is no guarantee that these new maps will result in the pickups that are being touted.
There were several elections in 2025 where a ‘reliably’ Republican seat was flipped.
Who’s to say that won’t happen again?
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Rolling it out AGAIN!
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He looks like he getting ready to kiss Putin’s ass.
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Photo with the story shows him pantomiming how he would suck his own needle dick if he could.
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And that’ll be the first thing you see in 2026, and every day thereafter. Repeatedly throughout the day. Most of the headlines will contain the expletive “Trump”. And it will continue, nonstop, until he (and his toxic brood) are neutralized, discredited, and banished from public office and public life.
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Thank you very much for this summary. Good use of a quiet time (trying not to jinx it) in GOP chaos-making to settle some dust. Of note, saying the quiet part out loud. Not so remarkable lately, but still worth remarking.
Some follow-up:
- The California referendum was intended to offset the new Texas map. Now that the Texas map has been allowed to stand, how likely is it the California map can be successfully challenged, given the Supreme Court has foregone logic and consistency when it suits them. The significant difference is that the California map was approved by the voters, as well as the legislators. And it’s just as close to the primaries and the mid-terms. So it should stand. One would think.
- A big uncertainty around all these efforts is the possibility that redistricting could put other vulnerable Rs at risk in a wave election. If you’re going to pack R voters into a democratic district, you have to take them from somewhere else.
- Any discussion of this issue should start or end with recognition that gerrymandering is an illegitimate, anti-democratic and ridiculous concept that has no place in democratic governance.
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What about NY? I seem to recall it might not happen in time for 2026 but is it still on the table?
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ICAM
Well said.
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The truth is that gerrymandering only works if the election is somewhat close. If 2026 is really a blue wave election due to backlash against Trump all of this gerrymandering will backfire spectacularly against the Republicans. We can only hope (and vote, of course).
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Alsobrooks is not a “State” Senator.
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Nice summary, Khaya!
What the GOP maps could do
They also can elect more Democrats.
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Making everything about him would seem to be Donnie’s project.
I would be gratified if more steps were taken to disappoint him.
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It’s really unfortunate for all that the outcome of such a major case might hinge on how much a couple of reactionary jurists enjoyed their breakfast.
It’s like the return of divining from entrails; although, that may have had more method to it.
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According to the Google machine’s AI supreme being, the California legislature passed its new redistricting map two days before the Texas legislature, so The Six will have to be creative in its corrupt legal reasoning to enjoin the CA map.
I see two possibilities.
First, Gov. Abbott signed the TX bill on August 29 but the CA voters didn’t approve the new map until November 4. The Six said the lower court’s November decision enjoining the use of the new Texas map was too close to the election. By that same “logic,” The Six can say voter approval in November is too close to the election to allow use of the new CA map. Even the Justices who subscribe to the independent legislature theory can get behind that argument because it advances there political objective.
Second, the lower court in Texas found that the map was racially gerrymandered. The Six summarily dismissed the court’s fact and evidence based decision of a racial gerrymander. The legal challenge in CA claims that the new map is a racial gerrymander. Regardless of the decision in the lower court, The Six will decree that the CA map is a racial gerrymander and therefor unconstitutional.
We have seen from other decisions that facts and evidence do not deter The Six from their appointed rounds. See our editor’s post The Latest Defenses of SCOTUS’s Corruption Only Make the Case Against It.
ETA: Happy New Year to all TPMers 
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I noted that, too. She is US Senator.
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HappyNY2u2!!
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