Texas House approves new maps for Congress requested by President Trump

After a two-week quorum break by Democrats, the Texas House on Wednesday forced through a redistricting plan on a party-line vote.

The controversial new plan will impact every voter in the state next year. The Texas House approved new maps for Congress that are likely to give Republicans five more seats in the House after the 2026 midterms.

The Texas House moved forward with new congressional maps after President Donald Trump requested some padding in the next midterm elections. Wednesday’s vote came after a two-week quorum break by Democrats successfully derailed the first attempt.

Feelings were still raw Wednesday night.

“It would be a great process to include the public in a way that they can see what’s going on, or do we want to do the things in the cloak of darkness here?” asked Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins, D-San Antonio.

“Well, you’ve been gone in the cloak of darkness for eighteen days,” quipped Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi.

“That’s not germane to what we’re talking about,” responded Gervin-Hawkins.

“That is germane to what you said,” said Hunter.

Democrats launched a last-ditch effort to change the final product, each time outvoted by the Republican majority. Instead, they asked pointed questions to the author, Rep. Hunter, trying to build a court record to challenge the maps under the Voting Rights Act.

Republicans changed seats after Trump made significant inroads with Hispanic voters.

“Did political performance change districts? Yes,” said Hunter. “Did, for example, in some areas, they become Hispanic over African-American? Yes.”

Wednesday night was the toughest hurdle for the plan, coming after House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, assigned a police escort to every Democratic lawmaker to ensure they returned.

A handful slept overnight after Rep. Nicole Collier, D-Fort Worth, refused to accept the escort.

Another last-ditch move by Austin Democrat Gina Hinojosa tried to get the chamber to first take up flood recovery bills to respond to the deadly Central Texas floods.

“I move to suspend all necessary rules and the usual order of business in order to take up House Bill 1 immediately and put the lives and safety of children and Texans over politics,” said Rep. Hinojosa, D-Austin.

“You’re not recognized for that purpose, and the motion will have to be made and filed with the clerk,” said Burrows.

The final outcome came on a party-line vote.