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Trump, Republicans race to redraw Texas congressional map as Democrats threaten legal war
Texas redistricting hearing descends into chaos
Isaiah Martin, a Democrat who is running for the 18th congressional district in Houston, had to be restrained and removed from Thursday’s House committee hearing on redistricting after exceeding his time to testify. (Isaiah Martin via Storyful)
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President Donald Trump and Republicans are moving full speed ahead in an extraordinary push to redraw congressional district maps ahead of next year’s midterm elections, when the GOP will be defending its razor-thin House majority.
And Democrats are trying to fight back against the Republicans’ controversial moves.
Texas GOP state lawmakers will unveil their proposed new congressional redistricting maps as early as Wednesday, a well-connected Republican source in the Lone Star State confirmed to Fox News Digital.
Meanwhile, the top Democrat in the House is expected to travel to Texas to meet Wednesday evening with Democrats in the state legislature at a meeting in Austin.
TEXAS DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKERS PREPARING TO FLEE RED STATE TO BLUNT GOP CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING PUSH
Republican state lawmakers in the Texas legislature could unveil proposed new congressional redistricting maps as early as Wednesday. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has accused the Republicans of being «afraid of the voters in 2026 in the midterm elections and they’re trying to cheat to win.»
The Republican push in Texas is part of a broader effort by the GOP across the country to keep control of the House, and cushion losses elsewhere in the country, as the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats in midterm elections.
TEXAS GOV SAYS DEMS WHO ‘FLED’ STATE OVER ELECTIONS BILL WILL BE ARRESTED UPON RETURN
Trump and his political team are aiming to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House, when Democrats stormed back to grab the House majority in the 2018 midterms.
«Texas will be the biggest one,» the president told reporters recently, as he predicted the number of GOP-friendly seats that could be added through redistricting in the reliably red state. «Just a simple redrawing, we pick up five seats.»
President Donald Trump, accompanied by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, speaks to reporters as he departs the White House, on July 15, 2025. (AP)
Democrats control just 12 of the state’s 38 congressional districts, with a blue-leaning seat vacant after the death in March of Rep. Sylvester Turner.
The GOP idea is to relocate Democratic voters from competitive seats into nearby GOP-leaning districts, and move Republican voters into neighboring districts the Democrats currently control.
Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, both conservative Republicans and Trump allies, said they needed to redistrict because of constitutional concerns raised by the Justice Department over a handful of minority-dominated districts.
COURT SIDETRACKS REDISTRICTING FIGHT IN KEY BATTLEGROUND STATE
But the move is potentially risky.
«There is some risk of making safe Republican seats more competitive, and I think that the incumbents are certainly worried about that,» veteran Texas-based Republican strategist Brendan Steinhauser recently told Fox News. «If you talk to Republican members of Congress, they’re going to be worried about their own seats. They don’t want to be in a seat that’s more competitive.»
Steinhauser noted «that’s the tradeoff for Republicans, if you want to grow the majority.»
But he added that «the people drawing the maps… they don’t want to make any seat too competitive because that will defeat the purpose.»
Redistricting typically takes place at the start of each decade, based on the latest U.S. Census data. Mid-decade redistricting is uncommon—but not without precedent.
Democrats are slamming Trump and Texas Republicans for what they describe as a power grab, and vowing to take legal action to prevent any shift in the current congressional maps.
And Democrats in blue-dominated states are now trying to fight fire with fire.
«Two can play this game,» California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote on social media recently.
The next day, after a meeting, Democrats in California’s congressional delegation said they were on board with an ambitious plan to try and gain at least five seats through redistricting. Democrats currently control 43 of the Golden State’s 52 congressional districts.
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California is considering launching a redistricting push in his blue state to counter Republican efforts underway in red-state Texas. (Paul Steinhauser – Fox News )
Jeffries, after his two-day stop in Texas, heads to California for meetings with state Democrats.
But it won’t be easy to enact the change, because in California, congressional maps are drawn by an independent commission that is not supposed to let partisanship influence their work.
Newsom has suggested that the state’s Democratic-controlled legislature move forward with a mid-decade redrawing of the maps, arguing that it might not be forbidden by the 17-year-old ballot initiative that created the independent commission.
The governor also proposed quickly holding a special election to repeal the commission ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Both plans are considered long shots, as they would face plenty of legislative, legal and financial hurdles.
Democrats in other heavily populated blue states—including New York, Illinois, and New Jersey, are also considering making changes to their maps, but have redistricting limits enshrined in their state constitutions.
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Meanwhile, Ohio is required by law to redistrict this year, and a redrawing of the maps in the red-leaning state could provide the GOP with up to three more congressional seats.
And Republicans are also mulling mid-decade redistricting that might give the GOP a couple of more House seats in red states such as Florida, Missouri, and Indiana.
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New York Attorney General Letitia James was arraigned at a federal court in Norfolk, Virginia, Friday, where she pleaded not guilty to two felony charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution.
The charges against James stem from her 2020 purchase of a home in Norfolk, Virginia. Prosecutors allege that James misled a bank about the nature of the residence in order to obtain more favorable loan conditions.
The indictment states that James misrepresented the financial institution in claiming it would be her secondary residence, and instead rented it out to a family.
According to the indictment, the lower interest rate would allow James to save nearly $19,000 over the course of the 30-year loan.
LETITIA JAMES TO BE ARRAIGNED IN VIRGINIA ON FEDERAL BANK FRAUD CHARGES TIED TO 2020 HOME PURCHASE
NY AG Letitia James and President Donald Trump (Getty Images)
James entered the not guilty plea herself to U.S. District Judge Jamar K. Walker.
She is being represented in the case by defense attorney Abbe Lowell, and by Andrew Bosse, a former assistant U.S. attorney based in Norfolk who formerly headed up the office’s criminal division.
James’ arraignment is the latest in a string of prosecutions brought against the president’s perceived political foes, despite objections from career prosecutors — some of whom have since been fired or resigned.
James, a Democrat, has long-drawn Trump’s ire after she campaigned for attorney general in 2016 largely on vows to investigate Trump’s actions and businesses.
She also successfully secured a $450 million civil fraud case against him last year, though an appeals court later tossed the financial penalty portion of the case.
«This is nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system,» James said in a statement after she was indicted.
DOJ SEEKS REMOVAL OF COMEY’S DEFENSE LAWYER, CITING CONFLICT OF INTEREST
Trump denies B1 bombers flew toward Venezuela amid cartel threats. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
«These charges are baseless, and the president’s own public statements make clear that his only goal is political retribution at any cost,» she added.
Her indictment, like the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, was presented to a grand jury by former White House aide Lindsey Halligan, whom President Donald Trump installed as the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia last month.
Trump, in September, said he would install Halligan as the top prosecutor for the Eastern District of Virginia, replacing interim attorney Erik Siebert, who resigned under pressure to indict both Comey and James.
«No one is above the law. The charges as alleged in this case represent intentional, criminal acts and tremendous breaches of the public’s trust,» Halligan said in a statement. «The facts and the law in this case are clear, and we will continue following them to ensure that justice is served.»
After the arraignment, it is likely that she will file a motion to dismiss her case for vindictive and selective prosecution, following similar steps taken by Comey’s legal team in Alexandria earlier this week.
She will also file a motion to dismiss her case based on what her lawyers will argue was the unlawful appointment of Halligan in securing her indictment.
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Lowell, her attorney, has described the case against her as «improper political retribution,» and vowed they would «fight these charges in every process allowed in the law.»
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to Fox News’s request for comment on the case, or whether Halligan or Keller would be joined by any other federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia.
Speaking to reporters outside the court on Friday, James said the Justice Department is being used as a tool of «revenge,» and a «vehicle of retribution.»
«But my faith is strong,» she told the group that had massed outside the courthouse in Norfolk, Virginia, hours earlier. «I have a belief in the justice system.»
«Never cow down or break or bend. So there is no fear today,» she said. «I will not be deterred.»
Judge Walker set a trial date for Jan. 26, 2026, and ordered parties to appear back in court for motions hearings in early December.
politics,new york,federal courts,donald trump,crime world,virginia
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US kills 6 suspected narco-terrorists in overnight strike on alleged drug smuggling boat, Hegseth says
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President Donald Trump directed a nighttime U.S. strike on a suspected Tren de Aragua vessel in the Caribbean Sea, killing six alleged narco-terrorists, officials say.
«Overnight, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Tren de Aragua (TdA), a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO), trafficking narcotics in the Caribbean Sea,» War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on X sharing an accompanying video of the strike. «The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics.»
«Six male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessel during the strike, which was conducted in international waters — and was the first strike at night,» he said. «All six terrorists were killed and no U.S. forces were harmed in this strike.»
HEGSETH SAYS US CONDUCTED ANOTHER STRIKE IN EASTERN PACIFIC TARGETING ALLEGED NARCO-TRAFFICKERS
This infrared image released by the Department of War shows a suspected Tren de Aragua vessel in international waters of the Caribbean Sea before a U.S. nighttime strike that killed six alleged narco-terrorists, officials said. (Department of War/Pete Hegseth)
Hegseth further warned, «If you are a narco-terrorist smuggling drugs in our hemisphere, we will treat you like we treat [al Qaeda]. Day or NIGHT, we will map your networks, track your people, hunt you down, and kill you.»
The strike marks the 10th operation targeting suspected drug traffickers since Trump returned to office. The president has made combating the nation’s drug crisis a central policy focus.
The first strike took place on Sept. 2, and since then, 43 suspected drug traffickers have been killed and two have survived, officials said. The pace of the strikes has increased from one every few weeks in September to three so far this week.
The operations have mostly targeted vessels linked to Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua network. The missions have ranged from attacks on smuggling boats to the destruction of a submersible, with footage of several operations released by Hegseth and Trump on social media.
TRUMP APPROVES MILITARY ACTION AGAINST LATIN AMERICAN CARTELS CLASSIFIED AS TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS
War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the latest strike Friday morning. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images )
When reporters asked Trump on Thursday whether he would request Congress issue a declaration of war against the cartels, he said that wasn’t the plan.
«I think we’re just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country, OK? We’re going to kill them, you know? They’re going to be like, dead,» Trump said during a roundtable at the White House with homeland security officials.
Trump this month declared drug cartels to be unlawful combatants and said the U.S. was in an «armed conflict» with them.
Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle are questioning Trump’s decision to launch the operations without first consulting lawmakers. Several Democrats are warning that the strikes could breach international law.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has also raised concerns about killing people without due process and the possibility of killing innocent people.
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An infrared image released by the Department of War shows debris and smoke following a nighttime strike on a suspected Tren de Aragua vessel in international waters of the Caribbean Sea. Officials said six alleged narco-terrorists were killed in the operation. (Department of War)
In a recent interview, Paul cited Coast Guard statistics that show a significant percentage of boats boarded for suspicion of drug trafficking are innocent.
The senator has also argued that if the administration plans to engage in a war with Venezuela, as it has targeted boats in recent weeks it claims are transporting drugs for the Venezuela-linked Tren de Aragua gang, it must seek a declaration of war from Congress.
Fox News’ Landon Mion and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
narco terror,military,pete hegseth,donald trump,secretary of defense,world,drugs
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