Saturday, May 16, 2026

Dems getting butt kicked in redistricting

Plus: SCOTUS keeps abortion pill available ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌  ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ 
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This is America

Stories of justice and action across America

Sat May 16 2026

 

Democrats are losing the redistricting war President Donald Trump started, but they're not giving up hope in winning back Congress this November.

Welcome back, This is America readers, I'm Phillip M. Bailey, chief political correspondent with USA TODAY.

Republicans scored big when the Virginia Supreme Court threw out  a voting new map approved by voters that would've netted congressional Democrats as many as four more seats. Then then conservative-leaning Supreme Court defanged the Voting Rights Act, which has created a sprint in the South that could wipe out almost a third of the Congressional Black Caucus, which is overwhelmingly Democratic.

Between now and November there appears to be only one Democrat-led state left where maps could be drawn to offset Trump's gerrymandering arms race: Maryland,

Many still believe control of the U.S. House of Representatives hangs in the balance this fall, but it's going to be a lot harder for Democrats to tackle the GOP majority.

sc redistricting protest.jpg

Protesters across South Carolina rallied at the statehouse to denounce proposed congressional maps they say dilute voter power and favor one party.

Stringr via Reuters

For more on the 2026 midterms, check out USA TODAY's coverage:

Democrats are losing on redistricting. Here are their last, best hopesGOP infighting in Congress slows Trump's agenda as midterms loom: Speaker Mike Johnson has defended recent GOP discord as part of the "cumbersome" process of calling the shots on Capitol Hill.

Virginia Democrats ask Supreme Court to revive House map for midterms: The state court held that the new map was illegal because lawmakers failed to follow proper procedures in proposing an amendment to the state constitution.

Supreme Court keeps abortion pill -- for now

Mail-order access to the widely used abortion drug, known as mifepristone, remains at the center of a legal debate that is now being held at the U.S. Supreme Court level.

The high court ensured full access will remain in place after an earthquake appeals court ruling blocked mail-order access while litigation against it by anti-abortion groups plays out.

That nationwide order would have restricted access even in states where abortion is legal. If the Supreme Court hadn't acted access to mifepristone would have been significantly and indefinitely curtailed for the first time since it was first approved in 2000.

The Food and Drug Administration is now reviewing  its safety, but the high court's brief and unsigned May 14 order doesn't give legal observers a clue on how the justices will ultimately rule on the underlying legal issues surrounding so-called telemedicine.

FILE PHOTO: Supporters depart a campaign rally against Virginia Democrats' proposed state redistricting constitutional amendment ahead of the referendum special election on April 21, in Bridgewater, Virginia, April 11, 2026. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno/File Photo

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Virginia Democrats' longshot bid to revive a new congressional map. It leaves the national party at a redistricting disadvantage.

JFK Hialeah Public Library
 

Florida city to offer select businesses one year of free rent

Hialeah is offering businesses one year of free rent — if they're willing to move into a city-owned building.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr testifies before a hearing of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee's Communications and Technology Subcommittee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., Jan. 14, 2026.
 

Is DEI illegal? House Democrats challenge FCC investigations

House Democrats accused the Trump-appointed FCC chair Brendan Carr of exceeding his regulatory reach in investigating Disney and other companies' DEI.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., questions Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services, as he testifies about the health care agenda for the Trump administration in front of the Senate Committee on Finance in Washington, D.C., on September 4, 2025.
 

Louisiana could give Donald Trump another Republican ouster

The president's revenge tour against GOP dissenters goes through Louisiana, where incumbent Sen. Bill Cassidy faces two MAGA rivals.

Republican Secretary of State candidate for Colorado, Tina Peters, a county clerk and election denier who's been indicted on criminal charges for tampering with voting machines, sings the National Anthem at her primary election night rally in Sedalia, Colorado, U.S., June 28, 2022.
 

Colorado governor cuts sentence for Tina Peters, who Trump tried to pardon

Gov. Jared Polis commuted the sentence of a woman convicted of crimes tied to tampering with election machines in service of 2020 election conspiracies.

 

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