Current Affairs Of Pakistan & World: SCOTUS supercharges redistricting

SCOTUS supercharges redistricting

Apr 29, 2026

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THE CATCH-UP

BULLETIN: House Republicans just cleared the way for consideration of FISA, the farm bill and DHS funding — all of which are on a tight deadline during Speaker Mike Johnson’s “hell week,” POLITICO’s Mia McCarthy reports. The chamber adopted the procedural measure 216-210 after leaders spent more than two hours on the floor flipping votes and wooing GOP holdouts.

Members of the National TPS Alliance rally at the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on April 29, 2026. The Supreme Court is examining the revocation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian and Syrian migrants. (Photo by Alex WROBLEWSKI / AFP via Getty Images)

The Supreme Court on Wednesday narrowed the portion of the Voting Rights Act that protects against racial discrimination in redistricting. | Alex Wroblewski/AFP

REDISTRICTING RODEO: The redistricting wars just went nuclear.

The Supreme Court this morning narrowed the portion of the Voting Rights Act that protects against racial discrimination in redistricting, striking down a majority-Black congressional district in Louisiana in a ruling that opens the door to years of aggressive gerrymandering to come.

The court released the 6-3 decision, split along ideological lines, right as the Florida legislature was moving to approve Gov. Ron DeSantis’ new map carving out four districts to favor Republicans.

The high court’s conservative majority held that the Louisiana map, which was drawn specifically to ensure two of the state’s six congressional districts were majority-Black, “is an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.” Though the ruling didn’t completely wipe out the VRA’s Section 2 protections against racial discrimination in voting, Justice Elena Kagan in her dissent wrote that it “renders Section 2 all but a dead letter.”

“The consequences are likely to be far-reaching and grave,” she added in the dissent, which she read aloud from the bench. She was joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson. More from POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein and Andrew Howard

The decision sets a precedent for other red states, particularly those in the South, to challenge their congressional maps and redraw majority-minority districts, which usually — though not always — benefit Republicans.

MAGA world is frothing at the mouth.

“If states are aggressive, we could see a healthy majority in the House perpetually,” Brad Parscale, a GOP operative and leader of President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign, said on X. MAGA influencer CJ Pearson called on “EVERY GOVERNOR IN EVERY SOUTHERN STATE IN AMERICA” to “CALL A SPECIAL SESSION TO REDRAW THEIR MAPS,” adding that now is “NOT THE TIME TO CHOOSE COWARDICE.”

That new reality is already playing out in Florida. About an hour after the Supreme Court decision came down, the state House voted to approve DeSantis’ new map aiming to boost Republican seats. The legislation now moves on to the state Senate, which yesterday saw three of its lawmakers vote against it due to questions over constitutionality.

There was expectation the Senate vote might not happen until tomorrow — but it’s been moved to today, per POLITICO’s Gary Fineout. DeSantis’ general counsel this morning sent the state House and Senate a copy of the ruling alongside a letter comparing the legal merits of Florida’s case with Louisiana’s and urging lawmakers to pass the map.

If Republicans pursue further aggressive gerrymanders, Democrats will have to decide how far they’ll go to counter the efforts. Fresh off a redistricting victory in Virginia, some in the party are already calling on blue states to fight back.

“We have to all abide by the same rules,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) told reporters today when asked if New York should respond with its own redistricting. “If Republicans are going to redraw North Carolina, if they’re going to redraw Texas, if they’re going to redraw and gerrymander every one of their states, then unfortunately we have to provide balance to that until we get to the day when we can all finally agree to put this behind us and pass nonpartisan gerrymandering federally.”

Good Wednesday afternoon. This is Irie Sentner and Makayla Gray. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop us a line at isentner@politico.com and mgray@politico.com.

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8 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. WAR REPORT: The war in Iran has cost an estimated $25 billion so far, a top Pentagon official told the House Armed Services Committee today, POLITICO’s Connor O'Brien and Leo Shane III report. Jules Hurst III, the acting Pentagon comptroller, said munitions make up most of the cost, but it also includes operations deployment and equipment replacement. “But that figure falls far behind many outside estimates, given the torrid pace of air and sea operations and the costs to restock expensive air defenses. It is also dwarfed by reports that the administration could seek hundreds of billions of dollars to cover the Middle East campaign,” Connor and Leo write.

The latest: Trump today urged Iran to move toward a peace deal, telling Axios’ Barak Ravid he plans to keep the U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in place until Iran agrees to a deal that satisfies U.S. concerns over its nuclear program. “U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has prepared a plan for a ‘short and powerful’ wave of strikes on Iran in hopes of breaking the negotiating deadlock, three sources with knowledge said. After the strikes, which would likely include infrastructure targets, the U.S. would press the regime to come back to the negotiating table and show more flexibility. Trump told Axios he saw the blockade as ‘somewhat more effective than the bombing.’”

More from Trump: “Iran can’t get their act together. They don’t know how to sign a nonnuclear deal. They better get smart soon!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, which also included a photoshopped image of Trump holding an assault rifle with the text “NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!” above it. Meanwhile, oil prices are still on the rise, with the average price of gas now at $4.23 a gallon in the U.S. — a record high since the start of the war, NYT reports.

2. THE OTHER ONGOING WAR: “Putin calls with Trump, proposes ‘Victory Day’ truce in Ukraine,” by The Kyiv Independent’s Martin Fornusek: “Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on April 29, Russian state media reported. According to Ushakov, the Russian leader voiced readiness to declare a truce in Ukraine for the Victory Day celebrations, which Russia holds on May 9. The 1.5-hour-long conversation reportedly focused on the Russia-Ukraine war and peace negotiations. It marks the first known call between the two leaders since March.”

3. MORE SCOTUS WATCH: The Supreme Court heard oral arguments over whether the Trump administration can strip Temporary Protected Status from Haitian and Syrian nationals today. “The argument suggested that the decision may come down to the votes of two justices, and that any victory for the 350,000 migrants from Haiti and Syria could be short-lived,” per NYT. The decision will likely be made in June or early July.

Another ruling: “Supreme Court sides with crisis pregnancy centers in subpoena battle,” by POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein: “The Supreme Court handed a win to anti-abortion advocates Friday, ruling that crisis pregnancy centers can go to federal court to try to block a state subpoena tied to a probe of the centers’ fundraising practices.”

4. WHCD SHOOTING LATEST: New surveillance footage from the Washington Hilton shows that Cole Tomas Allen “appeared to raise his shotgun in the direction of a Secret Service officer who then fired at him at least four times as he bolted through a security checkpoint,” WaPo’s Jonathan O'Connell and colleagues report. “The video, a much higher resolution version of the security camera footage President Donald Trump posted to social media that night, does not capture every gunshot that authorities say was fired. But it provides the clearest picture yet of the four seconds between when Allen burst out of a doorway in full sprint and when he exited the frame, falling to the ground at the top of a staircase leading to the ballroom.”

“The footage shows the officer drew his weapon within two seconds of Allen’s arrival. The officer is seen firing four times at Allen — three of those shots appeared to be in the general direction of other security personnel as Allen ran past them. There is no indication in the footage reviewed by The Post that Allen fired his weapon, though authorities have charged him with discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. The footage shows no obvious flash from the muzzle of the shotgun before the suspect runs out of the frame.”

The view from the Hill: House Homeland Security Chair Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.) said the White House is putting together a briefing on how the Secret Service responded to the Saturday shooting for his panel, POLITICO’s Eric Bazail-Eimil reports. “We are getting a specific briefing” on “what happened on Saturday,” Garbarino said. He added that the briefing had not been formally scheduled, but it would be “soon.”

5. STUCK ON THE SIDELINES: “Once-rising Trump aide sidelined from Iran, Ukraine work,” by POLITICO’s Felicia Schwartz: “Josh Gruenbaum, a former adviser to Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, will no longer work with the pair on Russia-Ukraine or Iran, according to two people familiar with the matter. On foreign policy matters, he’ll only be at the Board of Peace working on Gaza issues, the people said … Gruenbaum’s departure comes after he fell out of favor in recent weeks with several of the president’s top advisers in the West Wing and elsewhere in the administration … Gruenbaum, a 40-year-old former Wall Street executive, had a meteoric rise in the administration.”

6. MOVIN’ ON: The Senate Banking Committee advanced Kevin Warsh’s nomination to become Trump’s new Fed chair today in a 13-11 party-line vote that sets him on the path to succeed Jerome Powell in the post next month, POLITICO’s Victoria Guida reports. “The Fed’s rate-setting committee will meet later today, where officials are expected to hold rates steady. Afterward, Powell will hold what’s likely to be his last press conference as chair.”

7. LET’S TRY THIS AGAIN: Pam Bondi will sit for a deposition before the House Oversight Committee on May 29 as the panel investigates the Justice Department’s handling of the federal inquiry into late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, POLITICO’s Hailey Fuchs reports. The announcement came after Democrats said they would pursue contempt charges against Bondi for failing to appear for an earlier deposition. “In a sign of Republican efforts to quickly preempt Democrats’ action, ranking member Robert Garcia of California was taken by surprise by the development during a news conference Wednesday morning to roll out the contempt resolution. ‘We’re being effective,’ Garcia said, after being informed by POLITICO of the new date.”

8. MAHA AT WORK: An FDA review found an “overwhelming majority” of the nation’s supply of infant formula is safe, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced, NOTUS’ Paige Winfield Cunningham reports. “We tested more infant formula than ever before, and the results are clear: Most products meet a high safety standard,” RFK Jr. said in a statement.

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TALK OF THE TOWN

BALLROOM BUDGET — “Republicans eye picking up $400M tab for Trump's ballroom as some Dems open to ‘discuss’ idea,” by Fox’s Alex Miller: “Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) plan to introduce legislation that would unlock $400 million for the administration to construct the ballroom. It would effectively see Congress cover the tab for Trump's ballroom. … ‘Do we need a ballroom? Well, that, we can discuss that, what it looks like and all of that,’ Sen. Jacky Rosen, (D-Nev.), told NewsNation.”

TRANSITION — Mohamed El-Erian is joining the Center for Global Development as chair of its Board of Directors. He most recently worked for GIC.

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