The full Texas House is finally taking up a new map for the state's congressional districts. The controversial change could give Republicans as many as five additional seats in the U.S. House of Representatives after the 2026 midterm elections.
Fierce debate is expected today over the legislation, which led Texas House Democrats to leave the state earlier this month, breaking quorum for two weeks and bringing the House to a standstill.
The walkout drew national attention to the issue of mid-decade redistricting, prompting several Democratic-led states most notably, California – to pursue their own new map in an effort to neutralize any GOP gains from Texas in Congress.
If passed by the Texas House on Wednesday, the legislation attached to the map – House Bill 4 – will still need one more procedural vote before proceeding to the Texas Senate for consideration.
Texas House Democrats returned to the Capitol on Monday. House Speaker Burrows, a Lubbock Republican, showed he was taking no chances with Democrats breaking quorum again. He gave the returning lawmakers a choice: Remain on the House Floor until today's floor session or sign a paper authorizing a Texas Department of Public Safety officer to monitor them to ensure their return.
Rep. Nicole Collier decided to take the first option, and remained on the House Floor, staying overnight at her desk.
Also on Monday, the chamber's Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting rapidly approved a new map designed to flip five congressional seats from Democratic to Republican control in the 2026 midterm elections.
Notably, the Texas House's current map differs from the version it considered during the first special session and from the version still being weighed by the Texas Senate.
The House's current district map would redraw the Houston-centered Congressional District 9 to include largely rural and conservative Liberty County. That would likely complete the task of shifting CD 9 from a solidly Democratic district, long represented by Congressman Al Green, to a solidly Republican one.
"At the end of the day, one chamber will have to approve the other's map or they will need to iron it out in conference committee," said Michael O. Adams, a political science professor at Texas Southern University.
House Minority Leader Gene Wu (D-Houston) has also filed an amendment in an attempt to box Republicans in. The amendment would attach a trigger to the redistricting plan, allowing it to go forward only with the complete release of the Jeffrey Epstein files by the U.S. Department of Justice.
"Trump is in those files, and that's why he's fighting to keep them hidden," Wu said.
But in a chamber where Republicans hold a 88 to 62 member advantage, the amendment will likely fall Wednesday.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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