Back in August, President Donald Trump appeared on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” and said of a proposed plan to redraw a state’s congressional district lines, “We have an opportunity in Texas to pick up five seats ... I got the highest vote in the history of Texas, as you probably know, and we are entitled to five more seats.”

The notion that any party or leader is “entitled” to a certain number of seats in the U.S. House is the height of arrogance. Nonetheless, Trump’s enthusiastic endorsement of mid-decade redistricting set off an increasingly brazen effort to redraw House district lines in multiple states to maximize partisan advantage — first by Republicans, then by Democrats.

The House started the year with 220 Republicans and 215 Democrats; the current makeup is 217 Republicans, one GOP-leaning independent in California’s Kevin Kiley, 212 Democrats and five vacancies. So far, redistricting appears to be improving the GOP’s odds of keeping control of the chamber, but you might be surprised at how much Democrats have managed to even it out.

In Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed a new map into law on Aug. 29, aiming to help the GOP gain up to five additional seats. But there’s a catch to this one: The new maps were drawn with the assumption that the 2024 Latino shift toward Republicans in that state would continue........

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