What’s going on in Texas, where Democrats have walked out of the state legislature in an effort to thwart (or at least postpone) handing Donald Trump five more congressional seats in the 2026 midterms. Is it a crime? Does it break norms? And most importantly: will it work? And we check back in with the administration’s efforts to keep Alina Habba on a job she’s not legally entitled to have and for which she has zero qualifications. What could possibly go wrong??

Links:

Texas HB4

https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=891&Bill=HB4

Texas HB4 Map

https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/30/texas-redistricting-congressional-maps-house-republicans/

Texas Constitution

https://tlc.texas.gov/docs/legref/TxConst.pdf

Texas House Rules

https://www.house.texas.gov/pdfs/resources/House-Rules.pdf

US v. Giraud

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69409922/united-states-v-giraud-iii/?filed_after=&filed_before=&entry_gte=&entry_lte=&order_by=desc

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