Former President Barack Obama is applauding Texas Democrats for leaving their state in an attempt to block the passage of a Republican-led redistricting effort.

It’s not just Donald Trump’s mantra anymore. As the Republican president pushes states to redraw their congressional districts to the GOP’s advantage, Democrats have shown they are willing to go beyond words of outrage and use whatever power they do have to win.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -California Governor Gavin Newsom led a campaign-style rally on Thursday for a redistricting plan to foil what he called President Donald Trump's bid to rig the next congressional race and cement his Republican House majority by redrawing the political map of Texas.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder are pushing back against the notion that Democrats’ gerrymandering efforts bear any resemblance to Republican plans to extract five new seats in Texas ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Texas Democratic lawmakers say they've brought attention from California to stop a maneuver that gives the GOP an edge in the next Congressional elections. That's making them consider ending their boycott and returning to Texas.

For weeks, Texas Democrats have been doing everything in their power to draw national attention to a radical Republican plan to try to hang on to the House of Representatives in next year's midterms by gerrymandering the state's already heavily skewed maps even further.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday called for another special session of the state legislature with a similar agenda to the first one. Work during the initial session stalled as Democratic state representatives left Texas to prevent the approval of a new congressional map that could give Republicans five new seats.

Texas House Democrats who fled the state to stall a Republican redistricting plan have signaled they’re ready to return to the Lone Star State in the coming days. The Texas state legislature wrapped up its first special session on Friday,