Congress
Capitol agenda: Dems plot redistricting revenge
Democrats are ready to play hardball after a stunning series of redistricting losses that could kneecap the party’s power in Congress for years to come.
“We’re going to win in November, and then we’re going to crush their souls as it relates to the extremism that they are trying to unleash on the American people,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Wednesday.
Jeffries will hold a caucus-wide meeting Thursday morning with House Administration’s top Democrat Joe Morelle to discuss next steps on the party’s election security strategy.
The mid-decade map redrawing war marks a reversal from years of high-minded Democratic rhetoric that included advocating for independent redistricting commissions, campaign finance curbs and more. Democratic leaders are now openly discussing overriding those safeguards as Republicans use the courts and their control of state governments to consolidate and enhance their own party’s power.
Democrats’ call to action comes after the Supreme Court’s April decision to slash the Voting Rights Act, kicking off a GOP mad dash to crack majority Black, safe Democratic seats in the South. The Virginia Supreme Court’s rejection of a map last week that would’ve given Dems four new seats this year dealt another blow.
Jeffries and fellow Democratic leaders laid out an ambitious plan this week to redistrict before the 2028 elections in states like New York, New Jersey, Colorado, Oregon and Washington where their party currently holds power but cannot immediately redraw House lines.
But opportunities to redistrict in 2026 are running dry for the party, except for a potential last-ditch pick-up in Maryland, where Democrats want to eliminate Rep. Andy Harris’ district even with the state’s primary two weeks away and mail-in ballots already issued.
Prominent Democrats are heavily pressuring state Senate President Bill Ferguson to move for a map redraw now after preventing the party from trying to draw an 8-0 map months ago, Gregory Svirnovskiy reports. Ferguson’s spokesperson Wednesday said the leader told Maryland’s governor he’s “open to a conversation about next steps.”
“At this point, the Republicans are literally doing everything in their power to create all Republican congressional delegations in the South and to squeeze out every possible seat,” Rep. Jamie Raskin told Blue Light News in an interview. “So if [Ferguson’s] initial position was that he didn’t want to be part of continuing a downward spiral, that consideration should be gone.”
The party’s anger also translates to a growing appetite to remake the Supreme Court, which many House Democrats say is ushering in an era of “Jim Crow 2.0.”
Rep. Johnny Olszewski, who has introduced legislation to term-limit the justices, said in an interview that the VRA ruling was “a straw that broke the camel’s back.” And Rep. Sean Casten said there are tools to “kneecap” the Supreme Court that Congress has never used, such as stripping their power to review lower court rulings.
“I think everybody from the top of our caucus to the bottom are saying we have got to push back on them,” Casten said.
— SURVEY SAYS: Separately, new results from a Blue Light News Poll show many Democratic voters want their party leaders to fight back hard — even if it means breaking up districts designed to protect the power of Black voters and other minority communities. Read the results here.
What else we’re watching:
— SENATE GOP COOL ON SUMMER RECONCILIATION 3.0 PLAN: Senate Republicans aren’t sold yet on their House counterparts’ plan to finish a third party-line spending package before summer recess. “We’re still working on reconciliation 2.0,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Wednesday when asked if his chamber was also planning a pre-recess timeline for a third bill.
— HOUSING BILL COMES TO HOUSE FLOOR: House GOP leadership is planning to put an amended housing bill up for a fast-track floor vote next week, despite President Donald Trump’s calls for the chamber to pass the Senate’s version as-is. Senior House lawmakers late Wednesday reached a bipartisan deal and released bill text. The final House text would maintain restrictions on Wall Street’s purchase of single-family homes — a priority for Trump — but would significantly scale back the Senate bill’s limitations on so-called institutional investors in the housing market.
Riley Rogerson, Andrew Howard, Erin Doherty, Jordain Carney, Kelsey Brugger, Katherine Hapgood and Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.
Multiple Senate Republicans joined Sen. Bernie Moreno in calling for Rep. Max Miller to step down from office Monday amid domestic abuse allegations from the Ohio senator’s daughter.
Bernie Moreno — father of Miller’s ex-wife, Emily Moreno — said in a statement Sunday that Miller should not serve in the House soon after the House Republican did a livestream video attempting to defend himself from abuse accusations.
Many of Bernie Moreno’s GOP colleagues were quick to back him following the statement.
“I don’t know [Miller]. I haven’t read a whole lot about him, but if [Moreno] thinks he ought to resign, I’m supportive of that,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia said in an interview.
Miller has denied the allegations, which include pouring hot water on his ex-wife and holding a gun to her head. He has also denied accusations from his ex-wife that he broke his daughter’s collarbone.
Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas condemned Miller, adding, “He should resign. He should quit.”
“I don’t know Mr. Miller’s story, but I trust Bernie so much as a good friend, and his family has such high values,” Marshall said in an interview. “I couldn’t imagine them wanting this out in public. So to go through with this, it makes me think that they’re telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”
The surge of support from Bernie Moreno’s Senate colleagues marks the first significant crack in a wall of GOP silence regarding the allegations against Miller. The skepticism from Miller’s own party will almost certainly weigh down the congressman’s already floundering campaign as he battles Democratic candidate Brian Poindexter to keep his Cleveland-area House seat.
Miller has until Wednesday to withdraw from the ballot and allow a crash primary to select a replacement.
Some Republican lawmakers stopped short of calling on Miller to withdraw or resign while expressing grave concern about the allegations.
“The accusations are very serious, and if there is truth to them, I am one who says that our elected officials need to be held to high standards,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said. “And certainly, when it comes to allegations of domestic abuse, child abuse, that’s not what we want in our lawmakers.”
A spokesperson for Miller did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In response to Moreno’s statement, Miller said on Sunday, “If my daughter said the same thing to me, I personally wouldn’t wait two years before holding him accountable.”
“You know this isn’t true and the only reason you are speaking out now is to hide from your own media circus,” he added in the post on X.
Notably still silent was GOP Sen. Jon Husted, Ohio’s other senator, who while leaving the Capitol Monday did not respond to reporters’ questions about whether Miller should resign.
Other Republicans in the Ohio House delegation are also staying quiet for now. Almost every House Republican from the state either declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment on Moreno’s statement.
The exception was Rep. Jim Jordan, who brushed off questions in a Thursday CNN interview about Miller but noted he was “a good man” and was recently campaigning for him.
Asked Monday if Miller should still serve in Congress following Bernie Moreno’s statement, spokesperson for Jordan Stefanie Farrell said, “As Mr. Jordan has said, it’s up to the voters of Ohio’s 7th District.”
Back in the Senate, other Republicans who were unaware of the situation declined to weigh in on the incident.
“I am not aware of the situation, so I don’t have a comment right now,” said Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who has been a leading GOP voice on domestic violence issues within the military.
But a steady drip of Republican senators said Monday evening they trusted Bernie Moreno.“It would surprise me if Bernie were being untruthful,” Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming said. “I guess I was surprised that it bubbled up to the public sphere, but I suspect that Bernie has got a beat on the situation.”
Sen. Jim Justice of West Virginia said he was unaware of the details of the allegations but that “Bernie’s a pretty level-headed guy.”
“I don’t know enough about the allegations, but like Bernie said, it sounds like he thinks he needs psychological help,” Sen. Rick Scott of Florida said, adding, “I trust Bernie.”
Chris Marquette contributed to this report.
Senate Budget Committee Republicans will meet Tuesday morning to talk about advancing a fiscal blueprint for a new party-line spending bill.
Chair Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) declined to say , in an interview Monday if he plans to introduce a resolution this week, noting that he was “working with leadership” and that the “first priority” is to pass a stopgap spending bill. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a panel member, said he didn’t expect the Senate to take up a budget resolution this week because “I don’t think my leadership wants to do it.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune hasn’t ruled out taking up a budget resolution but has been frank about the challenges it faces among GOP senators.
The Senate’s stopgap funding bill to avert a shutdown on Oct. 1 has cleared the first procedural hurdle, putting it on track for passage before lawmakers leave for the August recess.
Senators voted 89-4 to advance the measure, which would fund federal agencies through Dec. 11 at current levels, with some exceptions.
In order for a passage vote to happen ahead of the summer break, Senate leaders will need to strike a bipartisan time agreement to fast-track the measure to a final vote.
“It is a strong bipartisan piece of legislation, and I hope it will receive overwhelming support from both parties in the Senate,” Majority Leader John Thune said in a Monday floor speech.
Senate passage would up a potential battle with the House, because the stopgap measure the House passed two weeks ago has key differences from the Senate version. Identical versions must be passed to actually avert a shutdown at the end of the fiscal year.
The Senate measure includes language to bar the Trump administration from putting into action a plan to make political appointees in charge of approving grants, a prohibition that would last for the length of the stopgap. It also has language sought by Democrats to ensure Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement don’t get any new funding under the patch.
“The bill allows us to continue negotiating a budget that won’t leave working families behind,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday.
The White House did not respond to multiple requests for comment about if President Donald Trump supports the Senate measure. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), an appropriator and administration ally, said Monday he had spoken to Trump earlier in the day and believed the president is “comfortable” with the Senate bill.
Jordain Carney and Jennifer Scholtes contributed to this report.
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