"A panel of federal judges from the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that newly enacted congressional maps drawn by Texas Republicans are a racial gerrymander, diluting the voting strength of Black and Latinx voters in the state. The ruling is a huge blow to Republicans at both the state and federal levels, including President Donald Trump, who had hoped the new maps would help in a scheme to maintain control of the House of Representatives."
"States redraw congressional maps every 10 years, following the federal census. But Trump's political team had urged Texas Republican state lawmakers earlier this year to redraw maps this year instead, to produce a congressional map that would increase the party's majority over Democrats by adding an additional five GOP-leaning districts. Although the redistricting was a clear partisan action, the U.S. Supreme Court decided six years ago that it would not restrict such types of political map-making."
"On Tuesday, a panel of appeals court judges agreed, finding that Gov. Greg Abbott (R) had "explicitly directed the Legislature to redistrict on race" at the behest of the Trump White House. Judge Jeffrey Brown, who was appointed by Trump himself, wrote the majority opinion in the ruling. He was joined by Judge David Guaderrama, an appointee of former President Barack"
Federal appeals judges found Texas congressional maps to be a racial gerrymander that dilutes Black and Latinx voting strength. The court determined Governor Greg Abbott followed direction from the Trump White House to redistrict on the basis of race. Trump's political team had pushed for an off-cycle redraw to create five additional GOP-leaning districts. Racial advocacy groups sued, asserting the maps were discriminatory. The appeals panel issued a majority opinion written by Judge Jeffrey Brown and joined by Judge David Guaderrama, undercutting Republican aims to secure House control through the new maps.
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