Overview

• Texas’s special legislative session has begun with initial public hearings on mid-decade congressional redistricting, though no new maps have been unveiled.
• The Department of Justice demands the redrawing of four majority-minority Texas districts flagged as unconstitutional racial gerrymanders by a federal appeals court.
• Fearing partisan map changes, Texas Democrats are considering quorum-denial walkouts while meeting with Governors Newsom and Pritzker for counterstrategies.
• California Governor Gavin Newsom is preparing legal pathways—special elections, ballot initiatives or supermajority votes—to override the state’s independent Citizens Redistricting Commission and carve Democratic-favoring districts.
• Both parties view the interstate redistricting showdown as critical to tipping control of the narrowly divided U.S. House ahead of the 2026 midterms.