The Texas Senate approved a bill early on Saturday to redraw the state’s congressional maps at the behest of President Donald Trump in an effort to flip five seats held by Democrats to Republicans.
The approval comes after the state House passed it on Wednesday, US media reported. The measure goes to Governor Greg Abbott, like Trump a Republican, to be signed into law amid a nationwide redistricting battle.
State Senator Carol Alvarado, a Democrat, said on social media on Friday that she planned to delay the measure by speaking continuously about it in the legislature, a move known as a filibuster. In 2021, Alvarado delayed passage of Texas’ district map by speaking for 15 hours straight.
But a rare procedural motion by Senate Republicans just after midnight ended the debate and killed the filibuster, moving the chamber straight to the final vote, the Texas Tribune reported.
The Senate adopted the bill on a party-line vote, 18 to 11, after more than eight hours of debate, the report said.
Republicans have acknowledged they believe winning more congressional seats in Texas will help the party maintain its slim majority in the US House of Representatives in next year’s midterm elections, despite polls showing headwinds for the party. More states controlled by Republicans are considering similar action.
California and other states where Democrats hold power vow to counter such moves. The California legislature on Thursday approved a redistricting plan aimed at giving Democrats five more congressional seats.
The California plan must be approved by voters in November. The Texas plan does not need voter approval, but Democrats have indicated they will challenge it in court.
The Texas bill was delayed for two weeks after more than 50 Democratic state House members staged a walkout that denied Republicans the legislative quorum needed. They have returned.
During debate on Friday, some lawmakers echoed criticism that Democrats raised in the House, that the new Texas map violates federal law by diluting Hispanic and Black voting power and discriminating on the basis of race.
Senator Royce West, a Democrat, predicted the new map would reduce the number of African Americans representing Texas in Washington from four to two.
“I call that retrogression,” West said.
Texas Senator Phil King, a Republican who sponsored the bill, said repeatedly he had not considered race and that lawyers had assured him the bill meets all legal requirements.
“From my perspective, why would I use racial data?” he told his fellow senators. “Voting history is just much more accurate and is well established as a legal way to draw maps.”
Most Americans believe redrawing congressional lines for the sake of maximizing political gain, known as gerrymandering, is bad for democracy, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found this week.
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Texas Senate approves redistricting bill, sending it to governor to sign
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Texas Senate approves redistricting bill, sending it to governor to sign
- The measure goes to Republican Governor Greg Abbott to be signed into law amid a nationwide redistricting battle
Survivors pick up pieces in flood-hit Indonesia as more rain predicted
TUKKA: Survivors in Indonesia were piecing back shattered lives Friday after devastating floods killed more than 1,500 people across four countries, with fears of fresh misery as more rain looms.
Indonesia has borne the brunt, with its toll rising to 837 dead and 545 missing, authorities said, many in Sumatra’s northern Aceh province where more than 800,000 people have been displaced. Sri Lanka has reported 486 deaths, Thailand 276 and Malaysia two.
Many survivors in Sumatra were counting the cost of the deluge that started last week, leading to destructive flash-flooding and landslides.
“Our house was covered by soil up to the ceiling,” said Rumita Laurasibuea. “Around the house, there were piles of wood.”
The 42-year-old government employee, now sheltering in a school, told AFP that recovering from the flood’s impact “could take more than a year.”
“This is a calamity we must face,” added Hendra Vramenia, 37, who fled his village of Kampung Dalam in southeastern Aceh.
“Possessions can be regained,” he told AFP, saying he remained worried that people in remote areas risk starvation.
Hendra said he would consider evacuating his family to his
“I will evacuate the children and family there first. Or I might also consider renting a house for the family,” he added.
- ‘Still worried’ -
Indonesia’s meteorological agency warned Aceh could see “very heavy rain” through Saturday, with North and West Sumatra also at risk.
Indonesian flood victims said fresh rain was likely to bring fresh misery.
“We are still worried... If the rain comes again, where can we go? Where can we evacuate?” asked Rumita.
In Sri Lanka, authorities said floodwaters had begun to recede, but residents face a mammoth clean-up.
In the central town of Gampola, residents worked to clear the mud and water damage.
“We are getting volunteers from other areas to help with this clean-up,” Muslim cleric Faleeldeen Qadiri told AFP at the Gate Jumma Mosque.
“It takes 10 men a whole day to clean one house,” said a volunteer, who gave his name as Rinas.
“No one can do this without help.”
- ‘Criminal prosecution’ -
Two separate weather systems dumped massive rainfall on all of Sri Lanka, Sumatra, parts of southern Thailand and northern Malaysia last week.
While across Asia seasonal monsoons bring rainfall that farmers depend on, climate change is making the phenomenon more erratic, unpredictable and deadly across the region.
But environmentalists and Indonesia’s government have pointed to the role forest loss played in the flash flooding and landslides that washed torrents of mud into villages and stranded residents of rooftops.
Indonesia is among the countries with the largest annual forest loss due to mining, plantations and fires, and has seen the clearance of large tracts of its lush rainforest in recent decades.
Jakarta on Wednesday said it was revoking environmental permits of several companies suspected of worsening the disaster’s impact.
Eight companies will be summoned on Monday in a probe, Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq said.
Should evidence show corporate involvement in illegal logging or land clearing, which aggravated the disaster, “investigations could escalate to criminal prosecution,” Hanif said.
The scale of the disaster has made relief efforts challenging.
Indonesia’s government this week insisted it could handle the fallout, despite public outcry that not enough was being done.
Indonesia has borne the brunt, with its toll rising to 837 dead and 545 missing, authorities said, many in Sumatra’s northern Aceh province where more than 800,000 people have been displaced. Sri Lanka has reported 486 deaths, Thailand 276 and Malaysia two.
Many survivors in Sumatra were counting the cost of the deluge that started last week, leading to destructive flash-flooding and landslides.
“Our house was covered by soil up to the ceiling,” said Rumita Laurasibuea. “Around the house, there were piles of wood.”
The 42-year-old government employee, now sheltering in a school, told AFP that recovering from the flood’s impact “could take more than a year.”
“This is a calamity we must face,” added Hendra Vramenia, 37, who fled his village of Kampung Dalam in southeastern Aceh.
“Possessions can be regained,” he told AFP, saying he remained worried that people in remote areas risk starvation.
Hendra said he would consider evacuating his family to his
“I will evacuate the children and family there first. Or I might also consider renting a house for the family,” he added.
- ‘Still worried’ -
Indonesia’s meteorological agency warned Aceh could see “very heavy rain” through Saturday, with North and West Sumatra also at risk.
Indonesian flood victims said fresh rain was likely to bring fresh misery.
“We are still worried... If the rain comes again, where can we go? Where can we evacuate?” asked Rumita.
In Sri Lanka, authorities said floodwaters had begun to recede, but residents face a mammoth clean-up.
In the central town of Gampola, residents worked to clear the mud and water damage.
“We are getting volunteers from other areas to help with this clean-up,” Muslim cleric Faleeldeen Qadiri told AFP at the Gate Jumma Mosque.
“It takes 10 men a whole day to clean one house,” said a volunteer, who gave his name as Rinas.
“No one can do this without help.”
- ‘Criminal prosecution’ -
Two separate weather systems dumped massive rainfall on all of Sri Lanka, Sumatra, parts of southern Thailand and northern Malaysia last week.
While across Asia seasonal monsoons bring rainfall that farmers depend on, climate change is making the phenomenon more erratic, unpredictable and deadly across the region.
But environmentalists and Indonesia’s government have pointed to the role forest loss played in the flash flooding and landslides that washed torrents of mud into villages and stranded residents of rooftops.
Indonesia is among the countries with the largest annual forest loss due to mining, plantations and fires, and has seen the clearance of large tracts of its lush rainforest in recent decades.
Jakarta on Wednesday said it was revoking environmental permits of several companies suspected of worsening the disaster’s impact.
Eight companies will be summoned on Monday in a probe, Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq said.
Should evidence show corporate involvement in illegal logging or land clearing, which aggravated the disaster, “investigations could escalate to criminal prosecution,” Hanif said.
The scale of the disaster has made relief efforts challenging.
Indonesia’s government this week insisted it could handle the fallout, despite public outcry that not enough was being done.
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