TEXAS MAP RULING: Republican efforts to pick up additional congressional seats next year through mid-decade redistricting suffered a major blow Tuesday when a panel of judges blocked Texas's new map from going into effect.
The panel ordered the state in a 2-1 ruling to use the congressional lines in place before the map that GOP lawmakers passed earlier this year. The majority found the new map to be a racial gerrymander, diluting the power of minority voters.
"To be sure, politics played a role in drawing the 2025 Map," U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown said in the majority opinion. "But it was much more than just politics. Substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 Map."
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) quickly vowed to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court, which is already considering legal questions about the legitimacy of racial gerrymandering lawsuits in a long-running battle over the congressional map in Louisiana.
But if the ruling holds, it would toss out the map that seemed likely to give Republicans up to five additional seats in the Lone Star State in next year's midterms. Texas started what has become a national redistricting battle this year after Trump called on Republicans to enact a new map.
The GOP seemed likely to win out from the battle despite some Democratic attempts to respond, but this ruling would knock out potentially the biggest source of gains for Republicans. That could give Democrats the upper hand nationally given redistricting efforts in states such as California and Virginia.
But other states are also contending with legal challenges to their new maps.
Judges are convening Wednesday to hear a challenge to a map Republicans pushed through to pick up seats in North Carolina. A similar hearing will be held in two weeks on California's new map as the state GOP and the DOJ filed a lawsuit to block it.
In both cases, the plaintiffs argue the maps are instances of racial gerrymanders. Democrats are arguing the North Carolina map dilutes Black voting power, while Republicans are arguing the California map boosts Latino voting power.
The defendants will argue the maps are cases of partisan gerrymandering, which federal courts have no power over.
As other states wrestle with whether to attempt their own redistricting efforts, these legal battles add an extra element of uncertainty to the process.
▪ The Hill: Trump threatens war on Indiana GOP over redistricting.
▪ Maryland Matters: Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) working to shift votes for redistricting.
TRUMP STANDS BY MBS: Trump defended Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his visit to the White House on Tuesday, brushing aside questions about Saudi Arabia's alleged involvement in the 9/11 attacks and concerns over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The visit was the crown prince's first to the U.S. since the 2018 killing of Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Trump dismissed the U.S. intelligence community's past conclusion that the crown prince ordered the killing.
"A lot of people didn't like that gentleman that you're talking about … but he knew nothing about it," Trump said, pointing to the crown prince.
He touted a deal for Saudi Arabia to invest at least $600 billion, and possibly up to $1 trillion, in the U.S. and his approval of the sale of much-coveted F-35 fighter jets to the Middle Eastern country.
Trump said a defense pact was reached with Saudi Arabia, which has been another of the kingdom's goals, but it falls short of a mutual defense treaty that would likely not receive ratification in the Senate.
The agreement designates Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally, joining 19 other countries with that categorization. It grants certain defense, trade and security advantages without pledging mutual defense that NATO membership ensures.
Both the F-35 sale and the defense agreement were considered key parts of Saudi Arabia's willingness to recognize Israel and join the Abraham Accords, but the crown prince has also conditioned joining the agreement on a pathway being established to create a Palestinian state.
"We want to be part of the Abraham Accords, but we want also to be sure that we secure a clear path of a two-state solution," the crown prince said.
Here are five takeaways from his historic visit.
▪ The Hill: 9/11 families criticize Saudi crown prince's Oval Office comments.
▪ ABC News: Foreign affairs intersect with Trump's personal fortune.
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT SHUTDOWN: The Trump administration unveiled further steps to dismantle the Department of Education on Tuesday, moving certain responsibilities to other departments.
The administration made contracts with other agencies including the Labor and Interior departments to take over aspects of congressionally-mandated programs rather than dropping the responsibilities entirely.
While the administration has acknowledged eliminating the Education Department entirely would require an act of Congress, Trump has signed an executive order directing it be shrunk as much as legally possible.
Legal challenges will likely follow the moves.
Republicans have for years called for eliminating the department to reduce federal regulation of education, but Trump has been the first to take major steps to shutter it.
▪ The Hill: Education Department may seek to sell off student loan portfolio.
TRUMP HEALTH CARE PROPOSAL: Trump said Tuesday he would only consider legislation to provide direct health care payments to Americans as a remedy for rising premiums, raising doubts about whether the president would extend the expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies.
"THE PEOPLE WILL BE ALLOWED TO NEGOTIATE AND BUY THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, INSURANCE. POWER TO THE PEOPLE! Congress, do not waste your time and energy on anything else. This is the only way to have great Healthcare in America!!! GET IT DONE, NOW," Trump said in a Truth Social post.
The president previously said he was speaking with Democrats about the plan for insurance companies to pay money directly back to Americans and allow them to purchase their own health insurance.
But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) dismissed Trump's proposal as "unhinged ramblings" that won't lower health care costs.
"Donald Trump's unhinged ramblings shows he still has no idea how anything actually works. His 'plan' makes no sense," Schumer said in a statement.
Democrats have insisted on an extension of the subsidies, which expire at the end of the year, and warn costs will skyrocket for millions of Americans if they end, though many Republicans have opposed an extension.
▪ The Hill: What to know about GOP's ObamaCare talks.
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