Texas Republican leaders on 30 July released a draft congressional map that would lock in a commanding advantage ahead of the 2026 midterms. Non-partisan forecaster Crystal Ball rates 26 of the state’s 38 districts as safely Republican under the proposal, with two likely GOP, one leaning GOP and one toss-up, giving the party control of about 79 percent of seats in the nation’s second-largest delegation. The mid-decade redraw follows a special legislative session ordered by Gov. Greg Abbott after President Donald Trump urged allies to pursue additional gains in the House. The White House believes the boundaries could flip as many as five seats and help safeguard the GOP’s narrow majority in the next Congress. Vice President JD Vance defended the move, describing it as a necessary response to what he called an “outrageous” gerrymander in California, where Republicans hold 9 of 52 seats—17 percent—despite capturing roughly 40 percent of the statewide vote. “Republicans in Texas are right to fight back,” Vance wrote online. Democrats branded the plan an abuse of power and signaled countermeasures. Senators Alex Padilla, Adam Schiff, Sheldon Whitehouse and Dick Durbin asked the U.S. Office of Special Counsel to investigate whether Trump administration officials violated the Hatch Act by lobbying for the map. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries traveled to Texas the day the map was released, calling the effort part of a broader attempt to ‘rig the 2026 election’. Election lawyers and academic analysts warned the clash could intensify a nationwide ‘arms race’ in partisan map-drawing, a practice the Supreme Court left to political actors in its 2019 Rucho v. Common Cause ruling. With mid-decade redistricting now on the table in multiple states, pressure is mounting in Congress for a uniform federal standard—or for each party to maximize every advantage where it governs.