“House Republicans are now aiming to pick up a dozen or more House seats in an unprecedented, Donald Trump-backed redistricting drive, looking to head off a Democratic wave in the 2026 midterms and cement the president’s power,” Punchbowl News reports.

“Republicans are hoping to net a minimum of three House seats in Florida, as we scooped Thursday. Add that to the five seats in Texas, one each in Missouri and Indiana, plus two or three in Ohio, where state law mandates a redraw ahead of 2026.”

“The Supreme Court also has yet to rule in a high-profile Louisiana redistricting case on the 1965 Voting Rights Act that could further alter next year’s congressional landscape.”

“Democrats are making a full U-turn on redistricting. But they insist they have no choice but to respond in kind when backed into a corner by Republicans,“ Politico reports.

“The last time Democrats were in power, then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushed a sweeping package of good-government reforms — including attempts to end partisan gerrymandering. Groups like the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, founded by former Attorney General Eric Holder, had long advocated for changing the system that allowed partisan gerrymandering.”

“Now, Democrats have abandoned their initial hesitation to engage after Texas Republicans — backed by President Donald Trump — launched a mid-decade redrawing to give the GOP five additional seats. Progressives are cheering on leaders like Gov. Gavin Newsom, who triggered the effort to expand the party’s advantage in California by sifting away as many as five seats from Republicans — potentially offsetting the Texas redraw.”

A federal court said Alabama must use independently drawn congressional maps that created a second Black-majority district more favorable to Democrats in the state for the rest of the decade, Politico reports.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) wants Illinois to serve his arrest warrants on Texas Democratic legislators, the Texas Tribune reports.

“Florida has entered the redistricting chat. And it’s potentially a really big deal,” Punchbowl News reports.

“At the urging of GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Florida House speaker created a special committee for mid-decade congressional redistricting on Thursday. This is a significant escalation of the nationwide redistricting wars and could prove a major boon for House Republicans — if it happens.”

“Republicans believe they can net between three and five seats in Florida, depending on how aggressive the legislature wants to get. The other big issue is whether Florida GOP leaders can work around a state law prohibiting explicit partisan gerrymandering.”

Huge caveat: “But under a five-district scenario, some of these new seats might be purple instead of red.”