Texas moved a step closer to a mid-decade congressional remap after the Republican-controlled House voted 88-52 along party lines late Wednesday to advance new district boundaries. The proposal, championed by President Donald Trump and expected to clear the GOP-dominated Senate within days, could shift five of the state’s 38 U.S. House seats into safer Republican territory. Democrats who briefly blocked a quorum earlier in the month returned for the vote and said they will mount a court challenge, calling the plan discriminatory toward minority voters in Austin, Dallas, Houston and South Texas. Across the country, California Democrats accelerated a counter-move. On Wednesday the state’s Supreme Court rejected a Republican request to delay consideration of legislation that would place a new congressional map before voters. The Legislature, where Democrats hold super-majorities, is scheduled to vote Thursday on a constitutional amendment that would set a 4 Nov. special election. Party strategists say the proposed lines could flip up to five of the state’s nine Republican-held seats, offsetting the gains Republicans expect in Texas. The dueling initiatives underscore an intensifying nationwide “gerrymandering arms race.” Trump has urged other Republican-led states—most recently Missouri, where leaders plan a special session—to follow Texas’s example, while Democratic governors have hinted they may mimic California if more GOP maps advance. With Republicans holding the U.S. House by just seven seats, even modest changes in a handful of large states could decide control of the chamber in the 2026 midterms.