Georgia Republicans Drop Gerrymandering — At Least Til November
The official reason that Georgia Republican leaders cite in their letter to Gov. Brian Kemp (R) announcing their decision to drop plans to redraw the state’s congressional district lines for 2028 ahead of the midterms is pending litigation in the state.
Republican officials expected the map re-draw to target at least two House districts currently held by Democrats, at least one of which is a majority-Black district.
“Changes to Georgia’s maps should take place only when members of the General Assembly and citizens have been given ample opportunity to gather the facts, provide input, and engage in meaningful discussion,” Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns (R) wrote in a letter signed by every member of state House Republican leadership. “For this reason, we will not be taking up congressional or legislative redistricting for the 2028 election cycle during this special session.”
But according to reporting from the Atlanta Journal Constitution, which was first to report on Georgia Republicans’ letter to Kemp, Republican lawmakers in the state feared that redistricting for 2028 ahead of the midterms might energize an already outraged base of Democratic voters — apparently a risk that GOP lawmakers did not want to make when both the governor’s mansion and a key Senate seat are up for grabs this fall. Per AJC:
The prospect of a prolonged fight alarmed some Republicans. Several GOP lawmakers privately questioned if redistricting was worth the political cost, particularly when there was no court order requiring Georgia to immediately redraw its maps.
Others worried the fight would hand their rivals a potent mobilizing issue at a time when Republicans hoped to focus attention on the affordability and public safety arguments against a Democratic ticket led by U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, the Democratic nominee for governor.
Kemp initially showed some restraint in the wake of the Callais Supreme Court decision that dismanted the Voting Righs Act and set off a race to gerrymander away Black electoral power across the Old Confederacy, opting to leave 2026 midterm maps alone for the upcoming election. But he did not agree with the lawmakers decision Wednesday. (In addition to House leadership, Senate President Pro Tem Larry Walker III, the top Republican in the state Senate, told AJC Senate Republicans were “united” with the other chamber.)
“I do not believe there is reason to delay the apportionment process, especially with the legislature already convening,” Kemp said. “Legislative districting, however, is the responsibility of the General Assembly, and it is within their discretion to defer the issue until a later date.”
The motivations are all tricky to decipher.
While Kemp initially waved off calls to redraw maps for the midterms cycle that we are currently in, he did direct state legislators to hold a special session that began Wednesday to redraw maps for the 2028 presidential election — something that, if passed, he could sign off on before leaving office after the November election. Even after his Republican primary runoff loss for the GOP gubernatorial nomination on Tuesday night, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, the president of the Senate, urged Georgia Republicans to reconsider, saying, “we owe it to the voters that elected us to deliver on this critical issue.”
More on the Jones’ calculus, from AJC:
Had he won the GOP nomination, the Trump-backed candidate would have faced pressure to use his role as president of the Senate to deliver on new maps. Instead, his loss likely deprives the effort of one of its most important potential champions.
Even if Democrats are successful in a longshot bid to retake the governor’s mansion in Georgia, Kemp could still call a special session to pass new maps before the end of the year, likely meaning Republican legislators in Georgia are aware their efforts — and the broader ones across the South to erase Black voting power — may backfire this fall.
— Nicole LaFond
‘Tremendous Foreign Policy Blunder’
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), whose Senate career Trump and RFK Jr. helped end when they backed one of his primary challengers this spring, had some strong words for President Trump and the deal his administration apparently made with Iran.
“The details that I’ve seen so far look … awful. This will go down as a tremendous foreign policy blunder,” Cassidy said. “Iran ends up stronger, our allies in the region are weaker and Iran has learned that if they’re willing to grab that Strait of Hormuz and choke it off, they can get the Western world to dance to their tune. I think it’s a deep mistake.”
While official text of the apparent agreement won’t be released until the two sides sign it in Switzerland, expected to happen on Friday, CNN and other news outlets have obtained drafts of the plan. CNN’s draft suggests that the parties agreed to end fighting on “all fronts,” which includes Israel’s assault in Lebanon, and calls for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz by mid July. The U.S. and other allies are also expected to help finance some $300 billion in reconstruction costs for Iran, though Trump already said today that the U.S. won’t be doing that.
— Nicole LaFond
Warsh Subtly Criticizes Past Fed Leadership, Begins His ‘Regime’ Change
Parts of Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s first Federal Open Market Committee press conference and rate decision went as expected — and other parts didn’t. Predictably, the central bank left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday. But after just three weeks on the job, Warsh also soft launched his “regime change” vision for the central bank. The Fed issued a much shorter rate decision press release than normal, removed the names and reasoning of voting central bankers, and announced five new task forces charged with analyzing the Federal Reserve’s communications, balance sheet, use of data, inflation frameworks and “productivity and jobs in the era of transformation,” likely focusing on the economic impact of AI.
“It was surprising to me that the committee removed the vote count from the statement,” Cornell economic policy professor Ryan Chahrour told TPM. “The criticism of past chairs was apparent, though stated very mildly. In short, he made it clear he plans to make a lot of changes at the Fed.”
Trump, who has tried to coerce the Fed to cut interest rates by force, was gentler with his new Fed chair after the decision.
“We have a very good guy over there now,” Trump reportedly said of Warsh in Paris. “So I’m guided by what he wants.”
— Layla A. Jones
In Case You Missed It
Emine Yücel pulls together the various threads of today’s congressional Republican drama: Trump Upends Plans To Quickly Confirm His Own DNI Nominee, Prompting Intra-GOP Quarrel
Morning Memo: Broadview Six Seek Special Counsel To Probe Trump DOJ
More from Layla A. Jones on the new Fed chair’s first rate decision: Fed Chair Kevin Warsh Heads to First Rate Decision Under a Cloud of Distrust About His Independence
Yesterday’s Most Read Story
Trump’s Pick for Governor Loses in Georgia
What We Are Reading
They’re Conservative, Vote Republican, and Love America. The Texas GOP Wants Them to Leave.
“I’m begging my own country to let my wife go”: Veteran fights to prevent wife’s deportation
I sincerely cannot wait to hear the spin when the full and official text of this memorandum hits the airwaves.
Just the pieces and portions we’ve heard about so far have generated a lot of negative. When the real thing comes out, all hell will break loose.
Trump’s next book: The Art of the Fail.
Note to Warsh… It’s one thing to be on the sidelines, it’s another thing to be in charge. Good luck when things don’t always go the way you think they should go.
That assumes it will last long enough for people to criticize it. There are so many vested interests who have already sunk so much into getting a big win and who will be loathe to accept this dog’s breakfast.
Or, “The Art of the Shlemiel.” TACO = Trump Always Chickens Out! Donnie is a stupid embarrassment.