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Evening Report

Monday, Aug. 4 | By Jonathan Easley

'We are at war': Redistricting fights explode across US

THE REDISTRICTING arms race is on.

Texas Democrats fled the state over the weekend to delay a vote on the state GOP's redrawn maps, which are meant to give Republicans an advantage in the 2026 midterm elections.

The Lone Star State has become ground zero in the redistricting wars, but Democratic lawmakers from California to New York are promising to retaliate with their own gerrymanders, firing the starting pistol on a race that could determine which party controls Congress for the remainder of President Trump's second term.

In Texas, the legal threats are flying, as state Republicans prepare to vote on a redrawn map that could help them win an additional five House seats in next year's elections.

Texas Democratic lawmakers fled to Illinois, New York and Massachusetts — all states run by Democratic governors — as they seek to deprive the Texas legislature of the quorum needed to vote on the new maps before the end of the 30-day special session.

The Texas legislature is scheduled to reconvene Monday at 3 p.m. CT (4 p.m. ET), but they will be short of a quorum by more than 50 Democrats.

Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott (R) says he'll attempt to have the missing Democrats removed from office, citing a legal opinion by his Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), who is running in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate.

"This truancy ends now," Abbott declared in a letter to the Democrats.

Abbott and Paxton are also threatening the missing lawmakers with felony charges if they raise money to cover the $500 daily fines they'll incur for missing the special legislative session.

"Democrats in the Texas House who try and run away like cowards should be found, arrested, and brought back to the Capitol immediately," Paxton posted on X. "We should use every tool at our disposal to hunt down those who think they are above the law."

Texas Democrats are digging in.

"Come and take it," Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu said on CNN, calling Abbott's threats "all bluster."

"Sound and fury, signifying nothing," Wu said.

Some Democrats are holed up in Illinois, which the Princeton Gerrymandering project gave a grade of "F" for having one of the worst gerrymanders in the country.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D), a potential 2028 presidential contender, is assisting the Texas Democrats.

"We're going to do everything we can to protect every single one of them," Pritzker said.

"It's Ken Paxton who doesn't follow the law. It's the leaders of Texas who are attempting not to follow the law," Pritzker added. "They're the ones that need to be held accountable."

In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) held a press conference with some of the Texas Democrats who traveled to her state.

"This is a war. We are at war," Hochul said. "And that's why the gloves are off and I say, bring it on."

DEMS SEARCH FOR EMERGENCY MEASURES

Democratic leaders are promising to redraw their own maps, although their hands are tied in some cases.

The Hill's Jared Gans reports that Democrats are hamstrung by their own recent push to use independent redistricting commissions, taking the issue out of the hands of state lawmakers.

"The movement to set up nonpartisan commissions for redistricting caught steam over the last decade, with Democrats at the forefront of the movement. Many in the party argued the commissions were essential to ensuring fair elections at a time when gerrymandering has led to fewer and fewer competitive contests on the federal level."

New York uses an independent commission to draw its maps. If Hochul hopes to amend the state constitution to change that, it would have to be passed in two consecutive sessions, which would miss the 2026 election cycle.

"We're going to also look at litigation strategies," Hochul said. "We're in close conversations about options there, and so I would say this — we're considering all options right now."

California also uses an independent commission, although Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) says he's looking for a workaround that could bring a new map straight to voters to approve in a special election.

(Newsom is scheduled to speak at 4 p.m. EDT. Watch live here.)

Other states are joining the redistricting frenzy.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is considering a mid-decade redistricting push.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) told CNN his state must act to blunt the impact of Texas's redrawn maps.

"We need to win in the midterm...if they're doing something to add their congressional seats, we need to look at our ways of doing that," Booker said.

Redistricting typically happens at the end of the decade along with the new census report.

Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) said he plans to introduce legislation that would ban all mid-decade redistricting efforts nationwide and nullify any new maps approved before the 2030 census.

"Congress has the ability to protect California voters using its authority under the Elections Clause of the U.S. Constitution," Kiley said. "This will also stop a damaging redistricting war from breaking out across the country."

MEANWHILE...

The 2026 midterm elections are taking shape, with Republicans taking on historical headwinds as they seek to hold on to their majorities in the House and Senate.

There are interesting intra-party debates on the left and right amid the broader political realignment that's defined Trump's nonconsecutive terms in office.

A new Associated Press-NORC survey found that many Democrats see their party as "weak" and "ineffective."

Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) described her party's struggles, as polls show the Democratic brand has never been more unpopular.

"I think voters feel like Democrats have sort of been a‑‑holes to them," McBride told Politico.

Republicans are also dealing with internal divisions over everything from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation to U.S. support for Israel.

"I don't know if the Republican Party is leaving me, or if I'm kind of not relating to Republican Party as much anymore," Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) told the Daily Mail. "I don't know which one it is."

"I think the Republican Party has turned its back on America First and the workers and just regular Americans," said Greene, who has emerged as one of the few voices on the right calling for the U.S. to cut Israel loose over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

💡Perspectives:

• American Greatness: Trump's unknown frontiers.

• New Republic: The media's urge to be "fair" to Trump is killing the republic.

• USA Today: Democrats have devolved into a clown show.

• The Liberal Patriot: How to rebuild the Democratic coalition.

• Politico: Dems are hoping for a blue wave that might not happen.

Read more:

• 5 things to know on Texas's political showdown.

• Musk donates $5M to Trump super PAC.

• Nancy Mace launches South Carolina governor bid.

• Ex-football coach Derek Dooley challenges Jon Ossoff in Georgia.

• Redistricting battle heats up amid Texas showdown

CATCH UP QUICK

President Trump weighed in on the controversial ad campaign with actor Sydney Sweeney for American Eagle, arguing the success of it is a sign that being "woke is for losers." Shares of American Eagle rose sharply on Monday.
U.S. nuclear submarines "are in the region" near Russia following "highly provocative statements" from former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, according to President Trump.
Thousands of workers at three Boeing manufacturing plants went on strike overnight less than a year after the company boosted wages to end a separate, 53-day strike by 33,000 aircraft workers.
Migrants from some countries would be required to post a bond as high as $15,000 to secure a visa for business or personal travel in a new pilot program being launched by the State Department.

NEWS THIS AFTERNOON

Trump to name new BLS chief, Fed governor

President Trump says he plans to announce a new commissioner for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) this week after he fired the previous BLS head following a weak jobs report.

Trump told reporters he'd announce the new BLS chief "over the next three, four days."

The president will also be announcing a nominee to replace Federal Reserve board of governors member Adriana Kugler, who announced Friday she will resign on Aug. 8.

Trump's firing of Erika McEntarfer on Friday after the dismal jobs report rocked Washington.

McEntarfer was appointed by former President Biden and she was confirmed with a strong bipartisan majority in the Senate in 2024.

Democrats are accusing Trump of shooting the messenger and refusing to acknowledge the impact his tariffs are having on the economy. They say Trump is politicizing government data and that they won't be able to trust future reports from his hand-picked BLS nominee.

Over the weekend, Trump and his senior officials hit the airwaves to defend the firing, with the president arguing McEntarfer "had the biggest miscalculation in over 50 years" after significant downward revisions to previous jobs reports.

Trump also baselessly claimed that McEntarfer rigged data ahead of the election to make the jobs numbers look better while Biden was in office.

"I then won the Election, anyway, and she readjusted the numbers downward, calling it a mistake, of almost one million jobs," Trump posted on social media. "A SCAM!"

Revisions to jobs reports are common, although Friday's downward revisions were startling for their severity, leading to a stock market sell-off and fresh concerns about an economic downturn.

"The data always suffers big revisions when the economy is at an inflection point, like a recession," Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi posted on X. "It's thus not at all surprising that we are seeing big downward revisions to the payroll employment numbers."

GOP strategist Karl Rove warned Trump is making the same mistake as Biden on the economy.

"What's ironic is, is that the Trump administration is making the same mistake that the Biden administration made, which was to basically, remember we had Bidenomics is working, well, now we have the golden age of American prosperity is returned, and Americans are not feeling that," Rove said on Fox News. "Better to say we're working hard to put America on the right road, rather than declaring premature victory. And I think that's a big mistake for the White House and is likely to come back and bite them in the midterm election."

The stock indices bounced back Monday.

MEANWHILE…

Trump on Monday opened new frontiers in his trade war.

The president announced that he'd raise tariffs further on India for continuing to buy Russian oil.

"They don't care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine," Trump posted on Truth Social. "Because of this, I will be substantially raising the Tariff paid by India to the USA."

Trump had previously announced a 25 percent tariff on India, which is set to go into effect Thursday, along with the new tariff rates for dozens of countries.

Canada faces a 35 percent tariff, although Canadian trade official Dominic LeBlanc expressed optimism about a new trade deal with the U.S.

"We were obviously, obviously disappointed by that [tariff rate] decision," LeBlanc said. "We believe there's a great deal of common ground between the United States and Canada in terms of building two strong economies that work well together."

💡Perspectives:

• The Atlantic: Trump gets rid of those pesky statistics.

• Fox News: The Fed's foolish interest rate policy is harming the economy.

• The American Prospect: Trump's tariffs are kleptocracy in action.

• The Wall Street Journal: The bureau of labor denial.

Read more:

• Dark clouds emerge for Trump on economy.

• 5 questions Trump faces after dismal jobs report.

IN OTHER NEWS

Congress to face fiscal, nominations dramas after recess

The Senate finally gaveled out for summer break after Republicans and Democrats failed to reach a deal to confirm a backlog of President Trump's nominees.

Instead, Congress will face dramatic fights over the nominees and the looming fiscal cliff when members return in early September.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) traded offers on moving the nominees over the weekend. Schumer pushed for billions of funding to be restored to various agencies in exchange for allowing a group of noncontroversial nominees to be approved, but Trump refused.

The Hill's Al Weaver reports: "Instead, Senate Republicans are expected to go 'nuclear' on nominees once they reconvene in September by moving to change the rules with 51 votes needed."

There's also the matter of funding the government, which will run out of money on Sept. 30, as none of the funding bills for 2026 have been passed into law.

Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) sent a letter to Republican leaders Monday demanding a "Big Four" leadership meeting this week to begin discussions on funding the government.

The letter from the Democratic leaders, sent to Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), says they have "the responsibility to govern for all Americans and work on a bipartisan basis to avert a painful, unnecessary shutdown at the end of September."

"Yet it is clear that the Trump Administration and many within your party are preparing to 'go it alone' and continue to legislate on a solely Republican basis," Schumer and Jeffries wrote.

The Hill's Alexander Bolton reports: "Democrats want a pledge from Republicans that if they agree to pass government funding legislation, they would not work with the Trump administration to pass another rescissions package, such as the measure passed last month that clawed back $9 billion in previously appropriated funding and defunded the Corporation for Public Broadcasting."