As Texas Republicans continue attempting to force through a partisan redistricting plan at President Trump’s behest, Public Citizen co-presidents Robert Weissman and Lisa Gilbert issued the following statement on the current state of affairs:
“Donald Trump’s popularity is plummeting and Americans overwhelmingly reject his policy agenda — which so far includes stripping healthcare from 17 million Americans, slashing taxes on the super rich, conducting heartless and cruel mass deportations, and cutting off investments in renewable energy.
“That is the context for Trump’s unprecedented demand that Texas impose a hyper-partisan, out-of-cycle redistricting gerrymander. There’s nothing complicated about this: Trump fears that voters will penalize him and his party in the next election, so he’s trying to rig the rules.
“The Trump demand for an extreme gerrymander in Texas — now embraced by Texas Republicans — will deprive Texas voters of fair representation, as politicians pick their voters rather than the other way around. It will have a particularly unfair impact on voters of color, as districts with majority or large populations of voters of color are broken up. And, of course, the entire purpose of the gerrymander is to rig results to maintain Republican control of Congress when most observers expect they would otherwise lose it.
“In simple terms, the Trump gerrymander is authoritarian and anti-democratic to its core.
“Texas is not the only state gerrymander Trump aims to impose, with the administration openly demanding other Republican-controlled states follow suit, no matter what state Republicans may want.
“Public Citizen has long advocated for independent commissions to draw fair Congressional district lines. That’s a nonpartisan means to overcome the severe problems of racial and partisan gerrymanders.
“However, Trump’s actions are leaving many Democratic-controlled states with no choice but to abandon independent commissions or systems designed to advance intra-state balance and neutrality. These states cannot be asked — nor should they be asked — to ignore the national context of their decisions. If Republican-controlled states engage in extreme gerrymanders, the Democratic-controlled states will have little choice but to follow suit.
“This is a needless moment of national crisis and further polarization, the responsibility for which lies completely and totally with Donald Trump. Right now, Texas should pull back from its efforts and other states should stand down. With that scenario unlikely, Congress should adopt a stand-still measure and block out-of-cycle redistricting except those ordered by a court to protect civil rights and advance fairness.
“Ultimately, we need a national solution of independent commissions in every state to draw fair maps — in every state. That would level the playing field nationally —and protect the interest of voters in every state. This solution would be in place right now if Republicans had not blocked passage of the Freedom to Vote Act in 2021. And it’s the solution that will finally be put in place when Congress passes an updated version of the Freedom to Vote Act.”