Updated August 19, 2025 at 11:51 AM MDT
Texas Republicans' plan to carve out five new, potentially GOP leaning congressional districts threatens "millions of Texans' voting rights," warns Democratic Rep. Greg Casar.
"By merging my district, here in the Austin area, with an adjoining district, Trump and Texas Republicans are trying to silence the voices of my constituents and get folks like me out of Congress," Casar, who represents a heavily Latino and working class Austin-area district, told Morning Edition. "But it's not just about me. It's a violation of the Voting Rights Act that's trying to dilute the voices of voters of color."
He added: "If Trump is able to do that here in Austin, it's a threat all across America."
More than 50 Texas Democratic lawmakers left the state and broke quorum during the state's 30-day special session on Sunday, in an effort to block the passage of a new redistricting map that would fulfill President Trump's desire to add up to five more Republican congressional seats in the U.S. House.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott filed an emergency petition to the Supreme Court of Texas on Tuesday, requesting the removal of state Rep. Gene Wu, a Houston Democrat, from office. He referred to Wu, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, as the "ringleader" of the quorum break. Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows has given Democratic lawmakers, who left the state, until Friday to return to the House.
The special session, called to consider the proposed map, among other specific agenda items, is scheduled to end Aug. 19. But Abbott has the authority to call special sessions at any point, in perpetuity.
Though gerrymandering has been a part of U.S. politics for hundreds of years, including in Democratic states, Casar says what is happening is Texas is different because the map came "directly from Mar-a-Lago" and wasn't drawn by Texas' elected officials.
"This map was drawn by the president's aides and delivered to Texas Republicans to be shoved down everyone's throats here," he said.
In an emailed statement, The White House Press Office told Morning Edition that White House personnel did not draw maps and called Casar's claims "categorically false."
NPR asked Casar for clarification on his statement. He said via email: "These maps were not drawn by Texans in any meaningful sense, and the idea that Texas Republicans are acting as anything more than puppets for Trump is laughable."
NPR's Leila Fadel spoke with Casar about Texas Republicans' redistricting plan and how Democrats, in the state and across the nation, plan to respond if the state legislature passes the new congressional map.
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Interview Highlights
Leila Fadel: If this new map goes into effect, could this mean you lose your seat?
Rep. Greg Casar: This redistricting plan is about more than any particular member of Congress. It's a threat to millions of Texans' voting rights. But here in Austin, I do represent a heavily Latino and heavily working-class seat. That means when Donald Trump sends his horrible ICE raids to separate families, I speak out. When billionaires are screwing over working class people, I speak out. And Donald Trump doesn't want voices like mine in Congress. And so by merging my district, here in the Austin area, with an adjoining district, Trump and Texas Republicans are trying to silence the voices of my constituents and get folks like me out of Congress. But it's not just about me. It's a violation of the Voting Rights Act. That's trying to dilute the voices of voters of color. And if Trump is able to do that here in Austin, it's a threat all across America.
Fadel: You have described this as illegal voter suppression and a violation of the Voting Rights Act. The Republicans are saying, "No, this is about partisanship, politics." The Supreme Court has specifically said it's actually legal to redraw the map based on this type of partisanship. So if you could explain, in what way does it violate the law?
Casar: Just take a look at the way that Republicans under Donald Trump's leadership are trying to change this map in Texas. They're moving 10 million people to new districts in the middle of the decade at a time you normally would never do this. And of those 10 million people, two-thirds of them are people of color. They're therefore getting rid of Hispanic opportunity districts in the Houston area. There will be no more Hispanic opportunity districts in all of Dallas, Fort Worth or in the Austin-area, in a state where the biggest racial group are Latinos. Ultimately, what we are seeing is that Donald Trump wants to have no chance for accountability from the House of Representatives. He has no plan for winning the upcoming midterm elections. So he wants to rig those before anybody gets a chance to cast a ballot. And the way that he's doing it is in violation of the Voting Rights Act, in violation of what Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement marched for here in Texas and across the south.
Fadel: Democratic governors are warning if Texas does this — and it's likely they will pass this congressional map, because it doesn't look like the Democrats will be able to stop it — then they're going to do it, too. If this really is a threat to democracy, and the country is about to enter a redistricting war between the two parties, won't the Democrats then be part of hurting American democracy and further dividing this country?
Casar: Let's be clear: Gerrymandering is terrible and should be banned. And every Democrat in Congress right now is a sponsor of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act to ban gerrymandering nationwide. But what we need to be really concerned about and what I'm sick and tired of is Democrats playing by one set of rules and then Republicans gerrymandering, however it is they want. That's why I think it's right that Gov. Kathy Hochul [D-N.Y. and] Gov. Gavin Newsom [D-Calif.] and others, are saying that they could redistrict in retaliation. That way, Republican governors like Abbott can know that there will be an actual cost for them breaking the rules. I think California should have independent redistricting when Texas does. Florida should pass independent redistricting that way we can have it in New York. We should have national independent redistricting and ban gerrymandering, not allow governors like Greg Abbott to break all the rules while Democrats play Boy Scout and Girl Scout.
Adapted for web by Destinee Adams and edited by Obed Manuel.
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