Texas GOP consolidates power in new congressional maps as Senate again fails to act on voting rights
CNN
With Texas Republicans bolstering their congressional majorities in new maps they approved this week, Senate Republicans in Washington, DC, on Wednesday blocked yet another voting rights bill that would crack down on those kinds of gerrymanders.
The maps that Texas state legislators approved this week under the once-a-decade redistricting process would consolidate the power of White voters and eliminate political competition in the state's rapidly changing suburbs. The number of majority-White districts would increase, even though the growing Hispanic population is almost entirely responsible for Texas gaining two seats in the US House in the reapportionment process.
Under the maps approved by state lawmakers, which the governor still has to sign, Hispanics -- who, like Whites, comprise about 40% of the state's population, the 2020 Census found -- would make up a majority in just seven of the state's 38 congressional districts. That's down one from the previous decade's maps, despite the explosive growth of the Hispanic population in the state. White voters would make up a majority in 23 districts and eight districts would have no racial majority, according to data from the Texas Legislative Council, reported by The Texas Tribune and FiveThirtyEight.
President Joe Biden warned against a streak of “semi-isolationism” in the US as he stressed the importance of alliances during a symbolic visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery on Sunday, honoring the thousands of Americans who died in World War I at a site former President Donald Trump skipped during a 2018 visit to Paris.
Looking to shore up Latino votes in Nevada and Arizona for his reelection campaign, President Joe Biden is on the verge of soon following up last week’s executive action aimed at curbing border crossings with another move focused on providing legal status for long-term undocumented immigrants married to American citizens and without criminal records.