The White House’s push to more aggressively gerrymander the Lone Star state to protect Trump’s slim House majority from crumbling in the 2026 midterm election has put Republicans locally in an awkward position. The map that the GOP-dominated legislature approved back in 2021 already strongly favors Republicans, who hold two-thirds of congressional seats despite winning only 55% of the vote. Tweaking it in an attempt to create new GOP-friendly districts could easily put seats the GOP currently holds at risk.

At Thursday’s hearing, Republican members of the House committee on redistricting remained largely silent as a parade of Democratic elected officials, voting rights activists and frustrated voters overwhelmed public testimony.

“I think it’s telling that there’s not a single Republican member of Congress to say, ‘I think this is a good thing,’” said Joaquin Castro, a Democratic representative of San Antonio, at the hearing. “I think that’s very strange.”