Texas House could vote on GOP redistricting plan as soon as Tuesday

Published 5:25 am Saturday, August 2, 2025

AUSTIN — An overwhelming majority of witnesses who registered to speak at Friday’s Texas House redistricting panel showed up to speak against the newly proposed map that would shift five congressional districts to Republicans’ favor.

Of the more than 520 individuals who signed up to speak at Friday morning’s hearing in the Texas Capitol, almost 500 of them were registered to speak against the map that was released Wednesday morning.

Friday’s hearing would likely be the only opportunity for the general public to speak about the map that has angered Texas congressional and state Democrats. GOP Rep. Cody Vasut of Angleton, who is overseeing the House committee, told the other 14 members of the panel they should be prepared to vote on the map by Saturday.

Vasut added the map could be on the Texas House floor as soon as Tuesday.

The first two panels Friday were made up of congressional Democrats, with U.S. Reps. Al Green of Houston and Marc Veasey of Fort Worth speaking against the plan. A Justice Department attorney argued in a July 7 letter sent to Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton that Green and Veasey’s districts were illegal racially gerrymandered districts.

The letter argued that a total of four congressional districts were illegal as drawn.

Veasey, speaking to the panel, said the proposed map threatens the voices of the people of color who live in his district.

“This is a map that was drawn behind closed doors, as we heard here today, to dismantle representation and weaken our power and turn back the clock,” he said.

Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, filed House Bill 4 on Wednesday and state lawmakers have until Aug. 19 to approve the redistricting plan that President Donald Trump requested in order to maintain narrow control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections.

Hunter’s plan would eliminate one Democratically held seat each from Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and the Austin/San Antonio area. District lines would also be redrawn in South Texas, pushing two seats currently held by Democrats toward stronger Republican majorities, according to an analysis based on 2024 election results.

Democratic lawmakers on the panel Friday took issue with Vasut’s decision to not hold any additional hearings in different cities across the state now that the proposed map has been released.

The House redistricting committee held three regional hearings prior to the map being unveiled – in Arlington, Houston and Austin. Similar to Friday’s hearing, the hundreds of Texans who testified at the regional events had near-universal disapproval of the redistricting effort.

“If y’all were truly interested in public input we would have public hearings in every affected area,” said Jon Rosenthal, D-Houston, the vice chair of the committee. “If we were interested in taking public input, we would go to where those people are and hear them.”

Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, said she has served in the Legislature for 53 years and added that in prior redistricting attempts, lawmakers held regional public hearings after maps had been released.

“I have never, ever seen it done this way,” Thompson said.