by Tuesday’s congressional meeting in California descended into a brawl between a Republican legislator and Democrats over a partisan plot to alter U.S. House boundaries in order to give Democrats more seats.
In response to a Republican redistricting effort in Texas that President Donald Trump desires, a committee decided along party lines to move forward with a new congressional plan.
The updated maps of California now include San Diego. Republicans’ votes are not required for California Democrats to advance.
Audience members jeered as Assemblymember David Tangipa, one of two Republicans on the committee that was debating the measure Tuesday, spent thirty minutes questioning his peers before being instructed to make room for other members. He yelled for more time as the committee started voting.
Lawmakers occasionally interrupted each other during the hearing until the Democratic chair called for order.
After hours of debate, Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, the committee’s chair, repeatedly called for order, saying, “This is not how we conduct our hearing.”
Tangipa maintained that California need to invest its funds in other areas, like healthcare. To present the updated maps to voters, lawmakers are anticipated to call a special election on November 4. They have not yet disclosed the estimated cost of the unforeseen election. Republicans in California calculated that a special election might cost over $230 million.
After the vote, Tangipa remarked, “I’m asking how much this costs because the state is in a massive deficit and it’s so personal to me.” He said that his stepsister passed away a few weeks ago as a result of a Medicaid provider’s refusal to approve necessary services.
California begins voting on proposed congressional map
Californians had their first opportunity to voice their opinions to politicians over the new congressional borders during Tuesday’s hearings. The Senate hearing was much more relaxed, and the measure was passed with ease.
Ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, California Democrats stated they are retaliating against Trump and his efforts to redraw the U.S. House districts to his favor in an ongoing battle for control of Congress. In order to obtain the necessary voter support, the California Legislature must approve a new congressional map and call a special election for November 4 by Thursday.
After ending a two-week walkout that postponed a vote on the Trump-backed map, state representative Nicole Collier of Texas remained at the Capitol overnight and into Tuesday to protest a Republican request that her and some of her Democratic colleagues be under constant law enforcement observation.
Eight other Democrats from Texas said on Tuesday that they will join Collier in spending the night on the House floor.
Officers from the State Department of Public Safety are following the lawmakers to make sure they stay in Texas and return to the Capitol. The Democrats were required to sign what they referred to as permission papers consenting to the surveillance before they could leave the House floor on Monday.
The new plan will be put to a vote in the Republican-controlled Texas House on Wednesday.
California Republicans mount an opposition campaign
Leaders of local Republican organizations, the conservative California Family Council, and dozens of citizens from all around the state attended a hearing on Tuesday to express their opposition to the Democratic plan.
Some claimed that because the map was created without significant public input, the process has been cloaked in secrecy. Others stated that rather than attempting to evade a nonpartisan redistricting process, they would prefer that officials concentrate on solving problems.
Jim Shoemaker, a Republican candidate for Congress in a district south of Sacramento, stated in an interview that each person has different demands and expectations. However, someone who only owns a small part of a region will not adequately represent the people since they are looking at the wrong item.
The partisan plan is necessary to defend democracy and thwart the president’s aggressive agenda, according to labor union members and a number of important Democratic political supporters.
However, Democratic leaders are committed to moving the idea forward quickly, so public comments may not have much impact.
Republican lawmakers said Democrats were breaking the state constitution in an emergency petition they filed with the state Supreme Court. They claim that because the constitution mandates a 30-day public review period for new legislation, MPs are unable to vote this week.
Of California’s 52 U.S. House seats, Democrats currently hold 43 and are vying for five more. By focusing on battlefield districts in Northern California, San Diego and Orange counties, and the Central Valley, the idea would attempt to increase that edge. Additionally, certain Democratic incumbents receive a higher percentage of left-leaning voters in their districts.
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Texas Democrats have police escorts
Republican lawmakers in Texas have sent state troopers to keep an eye on their Democratic colleagues and make sure they don’t leave the state again, as they did recently when they tried to stop a vote on new maps. The Suburban Dallas Rep. Mihaela Plesa claimed that after spending a large portion of the day on a couch in her office, one followed her on her Monday night trip back to her Austin apartment. She claimed that he accompanied her to a staff lunch and even to the restrooms down the hall.
In a phone interview, Plesa stated that this is a waste of government money and truly performance theater.
The Department of Public Safety received a message on Tuesday asking for comment.
A national brawl unfolding
After the census, redistricting usually takes place once every ten years. To strengthen Republicans’ slim House majority and prevent a recurrence of the midterm elections from his first term, Trump, however, plans to use mid-decade redistricting. Democrats used their majority to block his agenda and impeach him twice after taking control of the House in 2018.
Democrats are within three seats of a majority nationwide due to the political composition of the current district borders. Several dozen of the 435 House seats are up for grabs, so even small shifts in a few states might have a big impact on the party that takes control.
