The partisan battle over congressional boundaries intensified Monday after Texas House Democrats ended a two-week walkout, restoring a quorum that allows Republicans to advance a redistricting bill backed by President Donald Trump. The proposal could hand the GOP as many as five additional U.S. House seats, bolstering the party’s narrow majority ahead of the 2026 midterms. Trump, calling the legislation “ONE BIG, BEAUTIFUL CONGRESSIONAL MAP,” urged state lawmakers to “pass this map, ASAP,” while Republican leaders scheduled a floor vote for Wednesday. Within hours, California’s Democratic-controlled legislature unveiled a counter-measure drafted with Governor Gavin Newsom. The package would bypass the state’s independent redistricting commission and put a constitutional amendment—labeled Proposition 50—before voters in a 4 November special election. If approved, the plan would let lawmakers redraw California’s 52 congressional districts mid-decade and could erase up to five Republican seats. Newsom said the step was necessary to “meet fire with fire” after what he called Republican efforts to “rig the next election.” The dueling initiatives have spurred nationwide demonstrations and further moves in other battlegrounds. Forbes reported that Republican leaders in Florida, Ohio and Missouri are exploring fresh maps of their own, while hundreds of protesters rallied in more than 200 U.S. cities over the weekend. An Echelon Insights survey released Monday found 53 percent of Democratic voters support California’s strategy, though the broader electorate remains divided on which party engages more in gerrymandering. With control of the House likely to hinge on single-digit seat changes, the two largest state delegations have become ground zero for a mid-cycle redistricting arms race. Legal challenges are expected in both states regardless of the outcome of this week’s votes in Austin and November’s referendum in Sacramento.