Texas GOP lawmakers lead summer sprint to redraw US House maps and address deadly floods

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Democrats showed up Monday for a special session but left open the possibility of walking out as a means to derail an unusual summer redrawing of U.S. House maps that would help protect Republicans’ slim majority in the 2026 elections.

President Donald Trump wants Republicans in the coming weeks to engineer as many as five more winnable congressional districts in Texas — a high-risk, high-reward redraw that would put them on better footing before the midterm elections, when the party of the incumbent president often loses House seats.

At the Texas Capitol, Republican House Speaker Dustin Burrows gaveled in a 30-day session and appointed a committee to oversee what is already escalating into a contentious battle over the state’s voting maps. Democrats promised to fight the redraw but they are heavily outnumbered in the Texas Legislature, leaving them with few paths of resistance.

“Democrats are going to keep all options open and will do whatever is necessary to protect our communities,” said Democratic state Rep. Gene Wu of Houston, the House Democratic leader.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott added redistricting to a lengthy agenda he gave to lawmakers in ordering them back to the Texas Capitol. That list includes addressing Texas' catastrophic floods that killed at least 135 people and has put Kerr County officials under scrutiny over why residents were not given more warning.

Abbott, a three-term governor, cited “constitutional concerns" brought by the Justice Department for redrawing the maps, which is typically done once every 10 years. The letter claims four districts in the Houston and Dallas metro areas, key Democratic strongholds, were racially gerrymandered the last time the maps were drawn in 2021.

During a debate to begin the redistricting process, Republican Sen. Phil King, who is chair of the committee, fielded queries from Democrats who questioned the purpose of creating new maps.

“The intent that we are here about today is to respond to the governor’s call that we take up congressional redistricting in this special session," he said. “I have the highest level of confidence that we’re not going to pass a bill out of the committee or off this floor that violates the Voting Rights Act."

Democratic party leaders on Monday identified filibusters or walking out — which would deny Republicans enough members for a quorum — as some of their limited options to block redistricting efforts, which they said will disenfranchise Democratic voters.

Texas Democrats in 2021 gridlocked the state Capitol for 38 days by refusing to come to work in protest of proposed voting restrictions. When they returned, the measure passed.

Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton has threatened to arrest those who attempt to walk out on top of the $500 a day fines lawmakers face for breaking a quorum.

Andrew Mahaleris, an Abbott spokesperson, did not comment on redistricting in a statement Monday.

“While partisan activists focus solely on political issues, Governor Abbott is dedicated to delivering results on issues important to Texans, such as flood relief, property tax cuts, and the elimination of the STAAR test,” he said, referring to a standardized exam for Texas students.

There are some concerns that rigging the map too much, known as gerrymandering, could backfire on Republicans. If too many Democratic voters are sifted into Republican districts, it could make them more competitive than they otherwise would be.

The state is also tangled in litigation with civil rights groups who allege the maps were racially gerrymandered in 2021.

Texas currently holds 38 seats in the House, of which 25 are held by Republicans and 12 by Democrats, while one seat remains vacant from the late Democratic Rep. Sylvester Turner and will be filled in a special election later this year.

Ohio Republicans are also considering redrawing their House maps and California Gov. Gavin Newsom floated the idea of his state doing the same, although that authority rests with an independent commission, rather than the legislature, in the Democratic-controlled state.

Lathan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Texas State Rep. Cecil Bell, Jr., R-Magnolia, center and other house member stand for the pledge as the House calls a Special Session, Monday, July 21, 2025, in Austin. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

A state trooper keeps watch over the Rotunda at the Texas Capitol as the House calls a Special Session, Monday, July 21, 2025, in Austin. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Demonstrators gather outside the Texas Capitol as the House calls a Special Session, Monday, July 21, 2025, in Austin. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Texas Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows strikes the gavel as the House calls a Special Session, Monday, July 21, 2025, in Austin. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

SIDON, Lebanon (AP) — Israel’s air force struck areas in southern and eastern Lebanon on Monday and early Tuesday, including in the country's third-largest city.

A strike around 1 a.m. Tuesday leveled a three-story commercial building in the southern coastal city of Sidon, a few days before Lebanon’s army commander is scheduled to brief the government on its mission of disarming militant group Hezbollah in areas along the border with Israel.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in a statement Tuesday condemned the attacks as counter to both international efforts to deescalate hostilities and Lebanon’s efforts to extend the government's authority into areas long dominated by Hezbollah and to disarm militants.

An Associated Press photographer at the scene in Sidon said the area was in a commercial district containing workshops and mechanic shops and the building was uninhabited.

At least one person was transported by ambulance and rescue teams were searching the site for others, but no deaths have been reported.

Israel's military said Tuesday they targeted weapons storage sites and infrastructure belonging to the militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas. They acknowledged the sites were located in civilian areas but blamed the groups for operating there.

The strikes were the latest in near-daily Israeli military action since a ceasefire signed more than a year ago that included a Lebanese pledge to disarm militant groups, which Israel says has not been fulfilled.

They took place nearly two hours after Israel’s military Arabic language spokesman Avichay Adraee posted warnings on X that the military would strike targets in two villages in the eastern Bekaa Valley and two others in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said a home struck in the village of Manara in the Bekaa Valley belonged to Sharhabil al-Sayed, a Hamas military commander who was killed in an Israeli drone strike in May 2024.

The areas were evacuated after Israel's warning. There were no reports of casualties in those strikes. Earlier Monday, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said a drone strike on a car in the southern village of Braikeh earlier Monday wounded two people. The Israeli military said the strike targeted two Hezbollah members.

The Lebanese army last year began the disarmament process of Palestinian groups while the government has said that by the end of 2025 all the areas close to the border with Israel — known as the south Litani area — will be clear of Hezbollah’s armed presence.

The Lebanese government is scheduled to discuss Hezbollah’s disarmament during a meeting Thursday that will be attended by army commander Gen. Rudolph Haikal.

Monday’s airstrikes were in villages north of the Litani river and far from the border with Israel.

The disarmament of Hezbollah and other Palestinian groups by the Lebanese government came after a 14-month war between Israel and Hezbollah in which much of the political and military leadership of the Iran-backed group was killed.

The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began Oct. 8, 2023, a day after Hamas attacked southern Israel, when Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel in solidarity with Hamas. Israel launched a widespread bombardment of Lebanon in September 2024 that severely weakened Hezbollah, followed by a ground invasion.

The war ended in November 2024 with a ceasefire brokered by the U.S.

Israel has carried out almost daily airstrikes since then, mainly targeting Hezbollah members but also killing at least 127 civilians, according to the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Mroue reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed to this report.

Lebanese fire fighter extinguish a building destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, early Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Rescue workers search for possible victims in a building destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, early Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Lebanese Red Cross volunteers search for possible victims in a building destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, early Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)