Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe said Friday that the state’s Legislature will draw new congressional maps in a special session, officially inserting the deep-red state into the nationwide redistricting battle that will reshape the fight to control the House in 2026.

Missouri’s redistricting push could see the state add an additional Republican-majority district to its eight-member congressional delegation. The delegation is currently split between six Republicans and two Democrats.

Kehoe released its proposed maps on Friday, which target the Kansas City-area 5th Congressional district held by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver. The special session will be Wednesday.

The move is the next phase of President Donald Trump’s effort to pressure GOP-controlled states to take up mid-decade redistricting to strengthen Republicans’ chances of retaining control of the House.

Last week, Trump preemptively declared Missouri had signed up for mid-decade redistricting and stressed its importance in helping Republicans win in 2026.

“The Great State of Missouri is now IN. I’m not surprised. It is a great State with fabulous people,” Trump wrote on Truth Social last week. “I won it, all 3 times, in a landslide. We’re going to win the Midterms in Missouri again, bigger and better than ever before!”

Trump played a key role in pushing Texas Republicans to draw new maps with five additional Republican-friendly districts. In response, Texas Democrats left the state to deny the Legislature a quorum and temporarily delay approval of the new maps.

Democrats in Missouri will face more obstacles to oppose a GOP gerrymander — Republicans hold supermajorities in both chambers of Missouri’s Legislature, meaning they can power through any Democratic opposition.

Republicans are hoping other states follow Texas and Missouri. Trump and Vice President JD Vance this week ratcheted up their pressure campaign on Indiana Republicans in hopes the state will redraw its maps to create another favorable district. Ohio could also produce as many as three additional Republican-leaning districts when the state takes up its mandatory redraw.

Democrats have limited paths to counter the White House’s redistricting effort beyond California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom and statewide Democrats are seeking to form five new Democratic-leaning districts through a ballot measure. Some Democrats are eyeing an unexpected opportunity to potentially challenge for a seat in Utah after a judge ordered the state’s Legislature to draw new maps compliant with state rules restricting partisan gerrymandering.

But other Democratic governors have yet to take concrete steps towards redistricting — and the party is outnumbered in the redistricting arms race. Republicans control the governor’s office and the state Legislature in 23 states, compared to only 15 states for Democrats.

Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin attacked Missouri’s redistricting plan as an attempt to undermine Missouri voters.

“Time and time again, Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe has undermined the voice of Missouri voters,” Martin said in a statement on Friday. “Now he is attempting to dilute their power altogether by removing the ability of Missourians to stand up against this power grab.”

Barack Obama called Texas state Rep. James Talarico last week to express support for his leadership in the state’s redistricting battle, according to two people familiar with the call.

The former president specifically praised Talarico as an effective spokesperson for showing up on different media and platforms, including his recent interview with Joe Rogan — which Obama told him requires risk and authenticity.

Obama’s call to Talarico comes as the Texas Democrat weighs entry into the state’s Senate race, which would pit him against former Rep. Colin Allred in a Democratic primary. The recent call between the two was not Obama signaling a preference in such a primary, the sources familiar said, and the two did not discuss a potential Senate run.

The call also comes as Obama has reengaged in the political moment in ways broadly uncommon for a former Oval Office occupant in response to President Donald Trump’s actions during his second term.

In private, he’s holding calls with the party’s rising stars. Earlier this summer, Obama called Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic candidate for mayor in New York City, where the former president “offered him advice about governing and discussed the importance of giving people hope in a dark time,” The New York Times reported.

In public, he’s rallying Democrats in a number of ways. He’s actively encouraging Democrats to fight the GOP’s Trump-inspired mid-cycle gerrymandering efforts — “an existential threat to our democracy,” Obama said in a video he posted Thursday. This week he trumpeted the party’s upset victory in a special election for a seat in the Iowa state Senate. “When we are organized and support strong candidates who are focused on the issues that matter, we can win. Let’s keep this going,” he said.

He’s endorsed, via X, Wednesday’s edition of Ezra Klein’s New York Times show. In that episode, the host shared his concern that Trump is “creating crisis and disorder so he can build what he has wanted to build: an authoritarian state, a military or a paramilitary that answers only to him — that puts him in total control.”

It all amounts to something of an escalation for Obama. In April, he spoke about the importance of the “rules-based” order and criticized the Trump administration’s crackdown on Big Law. In June, he shared his concern that America was fast approaching a “situation in which all of us are going to be tested in some way, and we are going to have to then decide what our commitments are.”

Perhaps now that test has arrived.  

It comes at a moment when the Democratic Party is largely rudderless at the national level, seemingly adrift. In that vacuum — no clear leader, no clear vision, no identifiable cause at the moment aside from stopping Trump — Obama may be the party’s most unifying figure.

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President Donald Trump discontinued former Vice President Kamala Harris’ Secret Service protection on Thursday, according to a memo reviewed by Blue Light News.

In a memo titled “Memorandum for the Secretary of Homeland Security,” and dated Aug. 28, Trump directed the Secret Service to revoke Harris’ security protections, effective Sept. 1.

“You are hereby authorized to discontinue any security-related procedures previously authorized by Executive Memorandum, beyond those required by law, for the following individual effective September 1, 2025: Former Vice President Kamala D. Harris,” the memo read.

The move, first disclosed by CNN, comes as Harris is set to embark on a 15-city tour to promote her new book, “107 Days,” starting next month. The tour will place the former vice president — who has remained largely out of the public eye since leaving office in January — back in the spotlight.

“The Vice President is grateful to the United States Secret Service for their professionalism, dedication, and unwavering commitment to safety,” Harris spokesperson Kirsten Allen said in a statement.

Former President Joe Biden had initially extended Harris’ Secret Service protection — which had been set to last until only mid-July — for an additional year, according to a person familiar with the move who was granted anonymity to discuss security arrangements. While presidents receive lifelong protection after leaving office, coverage for vice presidents typically lasts only six months after they leave office.

A White House spokesperson confirmed protection has been revoked but did not comment further.

Trump similarly ended extended security protections for Hunter Biden and his half-sister Ashley Biden earlier this year.