AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The first dominoes in the growing national constituency battle are likely to fall Wednesday as Republican-controlled Texas Legislature is expected to pass a new congressional map creating five new winless sheets for the GOP.
Voting continues President Donald Trump’s outbreakeager to stem a medium-term defeat of control of the House of Representatives, taking weeks of delay after dozens of Texas Democrats fled the state in protest. Some Democrats were only allowed to return on Monday and be assigned. Police escorts for 24 hours in a row To ensure attendance at Wednesday’s session. Those who refused to monitor were confined to the floors of the houses they protested livestream on Tuesday night.
The fierce Democratic Party of Japan Vowed to pay back for the Texas mapCalifornia’s legislature has been poised to approve a new map that will add democratically friendly seats later this week. The map still needs to be approved by voters in that state in November.
Usually, once every ten years, we redraw new census figures. But Trump is lobbying to other conservative, controlled states like Indiana and Missouri to narrow down new GOP-friendly seats from their maps as they prepare for next year’s challenging midterm elections.
In Texas, the Democratic Party I spent the day before the vote It kept my attention on the extraordinary length that ensured that Republicans who run Congress would do that. Democrat Nicole Collier began it when Democrats refused to sign what they called “permits” needed to leave their House rooms. She spent Monday nights and Tuesdays on the floor of her house, where she set up a live stream, and her Democrat colleagues outside chasing to their offices and homes.
Dallas area Rep. Linda Garcia said she was back home from Austin for three hours and officers chased her. When she went grocery shopping, he went down all the aisles with her and pretended to be shopping. When she spoke to the Associated Press on the phone, two unmarked cars with police officers inside were parked outside her home.
“That’s a strange feeling,” she said. “The only way to explain the whole process is like I’m in the movie.”
The allocation of troopers ordered by Republican House Speaker Dustin Burrows was another escalation of the growing battle of rezoning across the country. Trump is pushing GOP state officials To maintain a majority of GOP’s slim homes and preserve the Democrats nationwide, tilting the 2026 midterm map in his favour. Gathered About efforts to retaliate.
Other Democrats join the protest
Jean Wu, a minority leader from Houston, and Vince Perez, El Paso, a state legislator, stayed overnight with Collier, who represents Fort Worth’s majority district.
On Tuesday, more Democrats returned to the Capitol to tear the slips they signed and stayed on the floor of the house with a lounge and toilet for their members.
Dallas Regional Assemblyman Cassandra Garcia Hernandez called their protests the “Sleeping Party of Democrats,” and she said the Democrats were holding strategic sessions on the floor.
“We’re not criminals,” said Houston Rep. Penny Morales Shaw.
Collier said that hiding her for officers is an attack on her dignity and an attempt to control her movements.
Republican leaders say Collier is “within her rights.”
Burrows said he’s focusing on important issues, such as dismissing Collier’s protests, providing property tax relief and responding last month. Fatal flood. His statement on Tuesday morning did not mention the district change and his office did not immediately respond to other Democrats joining Collier.
“The choice for Rep. Collier not to sign a slip of permit is within her rights under House rules,” Burrows said.
Under these rules, the chamber’s doors are locked until the schedule slip on Wednesday, and members cannot leave “without the written permission of the speaker.”
100 of the 150 residential members must be present to run business on Wednesday.
GOP wants 5 more seats in Texas
The GOP plan is designed to send five additional Republicans from Texas to their US homes. The Texas Democrats returned to Austin after the California Democrats I’ve started my efforts Redraw the state districts to win five seats from Republicans.
Democrats also said they are back as they hope they will try new maps in court.
Republicans issued a private arrest warrant to get the Democrats back after leaving the state on Aug. 3, and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott called on the state Supreme Court to inauate Wu and several other Democrats. Lawmakers also face $500 fines for their daily absence.
How officers hid democratic lawmakers
Democrats reported different levels of surveillance. Houston Rep. Armande Wall doesn’t know where the police escorts were, but he felt he was being closely monitored as police were still growing in the Capitol.
Some Democrats said the police officers watching them were friendly. However, Austin Rep. Cheryl Cole said in a social media post that when he went for a walk Tuesday morning, officers who followed her lost her on the road, got angry and threatened to arrest her.
Garcia said her 9-year-old son was with her when he got home, and every time she looked in the rearview mirror she could see the officers nearby. He came into the grocery store and she went shopping with her son.
“I imagine this is how you feel when you potentially shoplift and someone is evaluating whether you’re stealing or not,” she said.
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Riccardi reported from Denver. John Hannah of Topeka, Kansas and Sarah Klein of Baton Rouge, Louisiana contributed to this report.
