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Trump aides want Texas to redraw its congressional maps so GOP gets extra seats

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thursday

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Republicans representing Texas in Congress are considering this week whether to push their state Legislature to take the unusual step of redrawing district lines to shore up the GOP’s advantage in the U.S. House.

But the contours of the plan, including whether Gov. Greg Abbott would call a special session of the Legislature to redraw the maps, remain largely uncertain.

The idea is being driven by President Donald Trump’s political advisers, who want to draw up new maps that would give Republicans a better chance to flip seats currently held by Democrats, according to two GOP congressional aides familiar with the matter. That proposal, which would involve shifting GOP voters from safely red districts into neighboring blue ones, is aimed at safeguarding Republicans’ thin majority in Congress, where they control the lower chamber, 220-212.

The redistricting proposal, and the Trump team’s role in pushing it, was first reported by The New York Times Monday.

Without a Republican majority in Congress, Trump’s legislative agenda would likely stall, and the president could face investigations from newly empowered Democratic committee chairs intent on scrutinizing the White House.

Here’s what we know about the plan so far:

On Capitol Hill, members of the Texas GOP delegation huddled Monday night to discuss the prospect of reshaping their districts. Most of the 25-member group expressed reluctance about the idea, citing concerns about jeopardizing their districts in next year’s midterms if the new maps overextended the GOP’s advantage, according to the two GOP aides, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private deliberations.

Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Lubbock, was skeptical of the idea.

“We just recently worked on the new maps,” Arrington told The Texas Tribune. To reopen the process,........

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