Texas GOP Sets Redistricting Hearings Amid Partisan Clash

The state House has scheduled redistricting hearings in Austin, Houston and Arlington, signaling a fast start to the Republican-backed effort to redraw the boundary lines for Texas congressional districts in the special legislative session that started Monday.

The first hearing will be Thursday afternoon in the Texas Capitol. From there, the House Redistricting Committee will head to Houston on Saturday for an 11 a.m. hearing at University of Houston's Main Campus. And on Monday, the panel will convene at 5 p.m. Monday on the campus of the University of Texas at Arlington.

The hearings, at which anyone can sign up to offer testimony, will take public's pulse on what is shaping up as a fierce partisan fight heading in the 2026 midterm elections. They also indicate areas Republicans may be targeting as they seek to redraw the maps to create five winnable U.S. House seats, a number President Donald Trump has told reporters he wants.

READ MORE: Why a walkout on GOP redistricting could be very risky for Texas Democrats

The hearing schedule was posted despite a call from outnumbered House Democrats that any action to redraw the districts take second place to flood relief, which Gov. Greg Abbott also added to the special agenda. The deadly July 4 flooding in the Texas Hill Country claimed more than 100 lives, and Abbott asked lawmakers to take up legislation related to flood warning systems, flood emergency communications, relief funding for the July 4 floods and disaster preparedness and recovery more broadly.

"There is no greater purpose of the government at this time," said a letter to Republican House Speaker Dustin Burrows signed by 48 of the 62 Democrats in the chamber. "Texas families are grieving their dead and Texas communities are hurting. We cannot bring back those lost, but we can stand with these families and shield our children and neighbors from future devastation — if we act with a singular purpose to protect life."

Democratic elected officials said they're considering their options to fight the redistricting effort. Among the options are parliamentary delays, marathon hearings and even Democrats leaving the state to deny the Republican majorities in both legislative chambers the quorum needed to conduct business.

It's an uphill climb, given that Republicans hold solid majorities in both chambers, and the leaders of those chambers have served notice that they intend to push ahead with redistricting plans.

READ MORE: Texas' special session starts. Here are the major issues, from a THC ban to flood relief

"Why bother fighting? They're going to win anyways," said state Rep. Gene Wu of Houston, who leads the Democratic caucus, rhetorically in a Monday press conference. "We are here to fight for Texans, whether we win or lose. No matter what happens, Democrats are here to fight for Texans, fight for Texas families, fight for working class people across the state, no matter if they're Democrats or Republicans or nothing at all."

On the Senate side, Republicans impaneled a special redistricting committee led by Weatherford Republican Phil King. During floor debate Monday, he said Texas Republicans should have more clout in Congress because the party is better aligned with state residents on issues ranging from border security to the economy.

He said he is not setting out with a preconceived notion on what the new districts should look like.

"I do not have a map," he told senators.

He said what emerges will come after what he described as "open and transparent" public hearings that will be streamed to allow Texans to testify remotely. He also said that, so far, the White House has exerted no influence on him regarding redistricting.

"I've had no contact with anyone from the Trump administration," King said.

Taking questions from Senate Democrats, King acknowledged that he has seen no new demographic data that would compel scrapping the Republican-drawn congressional map that was adopted in 2021 based on findings of the U.S. Census the year before.

King also said he was unfamiliar with how the U.S. Department of Justice determined that as many as four of the state's current congressional districts were drawn with an improper emphasis on race. Asked why then was the Legislature taking up redistricting at all, King simply said it was because Abbott had included the issue on the session's agenda.

At the Democrats' news conference Monday, U.S. Rep. Greg Casar of Austin said Trump was behind the Texas redistricting because he is worried about a Democratic sweep next year as the president's job approval ratings have declined in recent months.

"Donald Trump is ordering this for his own national purposes," Casar said. "This is a moment in which Trump's numbers are in the toilet."