Overview

• Texas House Democrats ended their two-week quorum break and returned to Austin on August 18, allowing legislative business to resume.
• Backed by President Donald Trump and Gov. Greg Abbott, Texas Republicans resumed efforts to pass mid-decade congressional maps aimed at securing up to five new GOP-leaning seats for 2026.
• California Democrats introduced fast-track legislation to place a Nov. 4 referendum on the ballot that would override the independent commission and redraw districts for potential Democratic gains.
• Both parties are preparing legal challenges over the constitutionality of Texas’s off-cycle remap and California’s voter-approval process for mid-decade redistricting.
• Other states are watching the Texas–California clash as a template for unusual off-cycle map changes that could tip control of the U.S. House.