The Mess with Texas

This Week in Democracy

• Committees in the Texas House and Senate passed a proposal to redraw the state’s congressional districts. The proposal was introduced last week, outside of the normal process, after President Trump called for the maps to be redrawn to give Republicans an advantage in five U.S. House districts currently represented by Democrats. (Redistricting is usually only done once every decade. It was last done in 2021.)

  Last weekend, most Democratic members of the Texas House left the state in order to stop the House from conducting any further business. (State law requires that at least 100 of the 150 members of the House be present to hold a vote, and more than 50 members left.) In response, Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows signed warrants authorizing the lawmakers’ arrests, but only within state lines.

  Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton responded in court, asking the Texas Supreme Court to remove state Rep. Gene Wu from office, and declare 13 other seats vacant. Paxton is also asking a court in Illinois—where some of the lawmakers are—to enforce the arrest warrants.

  U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas requested the FBI’s help in locating the lawmakers, despite this being an internal state political dispute. Cornyn later announced that the FBI granted his request.

• The Trump administration suspended more than $500 million in federal grants for the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). UCLA is the first public university to be targeted by the administration.

  The suspension affects more than 800 grants, funding research into neuroscience, clean energy, and cancer. “It is in our country’s best interest that funding be restored,” UC President James Milliken said in a statement.

  ➡️ READ: Sharing the Facts About the Impact of Targeting Higher Education

• A federal judge blocked the Trump administration from defunding a federal grant program that helps states protect against natural disasters. Officials from 20 states, led by Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, sued in July to protect the funding.
• Federal officials launched an investigation into former Special Counsel Jack Smith for alleged violations of the Hatch Act, a federal law that prohibits executive branch employees from engaging in certain political activities. U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton requested the investigation, alleging that Smith’s investigations into Trump were politically motivated. (Smith’s investigations resulted in two indictments and 44 criminal charges against Trump for his role in the plot to overturn the 2020 election and mishandling of classified information. Each indictment was approved by grand jury.)
• The latest round of Trump’s tariffs went into effect on Thursday. Twelve state attorneys general were recently in court arguing that Trump exceeded his authority when he implemented the tariffs. “Congress alone has constitutional authority to impose tariffs,” they wrote in a court filing.

  ➡️ READ: Sharing the Facts About the Limits of Presidential Power on Tariffs

• The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which helps fund PBS and NPR, announced that it would begin winding down operations after its federal funding was cut. The CPB helps fund more than 1,500 public radio and television stations across the country. The cuts are likely to impact smaller stations in rural areas most heavily. Lawmakers that represent those areas warned that some stations will have to close.

State of the States

In Georgia, a court ordered the Fulton County Board of Commissioners to appoint two commissioners, Julie Adams and Jason Frazier. The board voted to reject their nominations in May, but the county Republican Party sued, arguing that the board didn’t have the power to reject them. Adams works with groups that promote election denial, and Frazier has challenged the eligibility of thousands of Georgia voters.