Re: Districting

This Week in Democracy

• On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case with major implications for the Voting Rights Act (VRA). The justices will decide whether Louisiana’s creation of a second majority-Black congressional district is unconstitutional.

  The district was drawn last year after a court ruled in 2022 that the state’s original map likely violated the VRA. Of the state’s six districts, the map only included one majority-Black district—even though one-third of Louisiana’s population is Black—weakening the power of Black voters.

  According to reports, a majority of justices seem inclined to limit states’ ability to consider race when drawing districts to address violations of the VRA—or to limit the ability to challenge such violations at all. Such a decision would substantially reduce the number of majority-minority districts, which help ensure that minority voters’ voices are represented in Congress.

  A group of former Republican governors co-represented by States United filed a brief in the case last month, asking the Court to preserve states’ ability to draw majority-minority districts to ensure equal representation. “If districting interferes with citizens’ ability to elect their representatives and hold them accountable, democracy itself is degraded,” they wrote.

  ➡️ READ: More about the brief

• Former National Security Advisor John Bolton was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of mishandling classified information. Bolton is the latest of President Trump’s rivals to be indicted in recent weeks, though the Justice Department’s investigation began under the Biden administration. Bolton pleaded not guilty to all charges.
• A federal judge in California blocked the Trump administration from laying off thousands of federal workers amid the government shutdown. “It has a human cost, which is really why we’re here today,” she said. “It’s a human cost that cannot be tolerated.”
• A federal judge in Rhode Island found that the Trump administration was withholding disaster relief funding from states, in violation of a previous order, and ordered officials to restore it within a week.

  A group of 20 state attorneys general sued the administration in May to block the administration from holding up the funding if states refuse to cooperate with federal immigration policies. Last month, the judge blocked the administration from withholding the money.

  ➡️ READ: Sharing the Facts About Coercive Funding Demands

• The Department of Defense instituted restrictions on journalists covering the Pentagon, including a pledge to only gather information authorized by the department for release. The vast majority of reporters—from every major news outlet—refused to agree to the new rules and had their press credentials revoked.

  In a statement, the Pentagon Press Association wrote that its “members are still committed to reporting on the U.S. military. But make no mistake, today, Oct. 15, 2025, is a dark day for press freedom that raises concerns about a weakening U.S. commitment to transparency in governance, to public accountability at the Pentagon and to free speech for all.”

State of the States

In Illinois, a federal appeals court rejected the Trump administration’s request to overturn a lower court’s ruling that blocked the deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago. A three-judge panel unanimously ruled that “the facts do not justify the President’s actions in Illinois.” The administration could appeal the decision.

In North Carolina, state lawmakers announced a plan to redraw the state’s congressional districts. The proposed map would give a Republican candidate an advantage in the state’s first district in next year’s midterm elections. (Democratic U.S. Rep. Don Davis currently represents the district.) If the proposal passes the state legislature, it will become law; Gov. Josh Stein cannot veto it.

North Carolina would be the third state to redraw its districts this year. Texas and Missouri did the same earlier this year, each outside of the normal once-a-decade process. Both states’ maps are facing lawsuits.

In Oregon, a federal judge extended orders blocking the federalization and deployment of National Guard troops to Portland and scheduled a trial to begin on Oct. 29. Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, and Portland officials sued last month to block the deployment.

Last week, the Trump administration appealed the order prohibiting the federalization of the Oregon Guard. The appeals court has not yet ruled but paused the lower court’s order, temporarily allowing the troops to be federalized.

Vet Voice Foundation and six retired senior military officers, represented by States United, filed a brief asking the appeals court to uphold the order blocking the administration from claiming control of the Oregon Guard.

“To deploy the military in response to a largely peaceful protest adequately addressed by civilian authorities in a major American city against the wishes of local officials is an escalation with myriad harms, not least to our military members and families,” the group wrote.

➡️ READ: More about the brief