Moments ago, Governor Abbott issued a proclamation outlining his agenda for the upcoming special session of the Texas legislature, slated to begin on July 21st: 

For weeks, it has been reported that the Trump administration has been pushing Texas to redistrict congressional districts in an attempt to insulate the President from embarassing losses in the midterms.

Following is a statement from Common Cause Texas Executive Director Anthony Gutierrez: 

“Our legislature needs to focus on actual problems like addressing our deeply flawed flood response procedures, not redrawing congressional districts to protect President Trump from embarassing losses in the midterms.

Under the best of circumstances, redrawing congressional districts takes months and includes field hearings all over the state before maps are proposed and then more committee hearings once maps have been proposed. 

There is simply no way to pass a new congressional map during this 30-day special session without completely subverting our democratic process and shutting out the voices of those most likely to have their communities split apart. 

The districts the Governor identified as problematic make his intentions clear. Governor Abbott and Texas Republicans are clearly intending to disenfranchise Black and brown communities across Texas in a vile attempt to pick up a few extra seats in the midterms.”

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