Texas Republicans' redistricting/gerrymandering scheme for U.S. House of Representatives seats is getting a scathing response from Democrats, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom — who is recommending that members of his party "fight fire with fire" and engage in aggressive gerrymandering of their own in blue states. Liberal economist Robert Reich wholeheartedly agrees, urging "other blue states" to "follow California's lead" and play hardball with Republicans.
But in an article published on August 14, Salon's Russell Payne warns that the redistricting/gerrymandering plan being pushed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and other Republicans is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes the GOP's broad scheme to maintain control the United States' federal government.
That broad MAGA game plan, according to Payne, includes not only maintaining control of both branches of Congress in the 2026 midterms, but also, keeping the White House in 2028 — despite having wildly unpopular ideas.
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"The new Texas maps are part of a larger redistricting play, in which Republicans think they can squeeze out a dozen new GOP seats from states such as Texas, Florida, Missouri and Indiana," Payne explains. "The redistricting play from Republicans, however, is only part of a larger campaign to totally change the state of play in the House of Representatives. If successful, that effort could see Republicans pick up more than 40 seats without having to win any more support from voters, according to GOP operatives."
The Salon journalist continues, "GOP strategist Alex deGrasse, an advisor to Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., spoke about the emerging plan on Steve Bannon's 'War Room,' outlining three changes that Republicans are counting on to bail them out of potential democratic accountability: partisan gerrymandering; a Supreme Court ruling that guts the Voting Rights Act; and an unprecedented and unconstitutional mid-decade Census."
The U.S. Census is conducted every ten years, mostly recently in 2020. But instead of waiting until 2030, President Donald Trump, Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and Turning Point USA's Charlie Kirk are pushing for a new U.S. Census. Kirk told the Daily Caller that a mid-2020s Census could "potentially subtract 20 electoral votes from Democrats in the Electoral College system, as congressional seat appropriation is directly correlated with Electoral College totals."
If the GOP succeeds with their scheme, Payne warns, the result could be long-term minority domination of the federal government — from the White House to both branches of Congress to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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"The GOP's Census plan will almost certainly be challenged in court," Payne notes. "Federal law holds that a mid-decade Census can be conducted, but not used for apportionment. And, since the country’s founding, the U.S. has conducted a Census once a decade for the purposes of apportionment."
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Read Russell Payne's full Salon article at this link.