News Wrap: Texas lawmakers move closer to approving new congressional maps
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PBS NewsHour
4.1 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 20 August 2025
⏱️ ? minutes
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| 0:00.0 | The day's other headlines start at the Texas State House where lawmakers are moving closer |
| 0:04.9 | to approving a controversial new congressional map that has sparked a nationwide fight over redistricting. |
| 0:11.4 | A quorum is present. |
| 0:13.7 | The legislature had enough members to do business today after Democratic lawmakers returned to the state. |
| 0:19.7 | They had fled earlier this month |
| 0:21.1 | to block the Republican-led body from voting on the new map. |
| 0:24.8 | Pushed by President Trump, it would help Republicans pick up five more seats in next year's |
| 0:28.9 | midterm elections. |
| 0:30.8 | Democrats say it's drawn on racial lines and blame Republicans for breaking the rules by pushing |
| 0:35.4 | a new map in the middle of a decade. |
| 0:43.1 | We are in a turning point for our democracy. If we allow cheating, and that's what this is, |
| 0:50.7 | it's cheating, elections will no longer reflect the will of the people. In a democracy, people choose their representatives. This bill flips that principle on its head, letting politicians in D.C. choose their voters, and that is un-American. |
| 0:58.9 | In response to what's happening in Texas, California lawmakers are set to approve a new map later this week that could add seats for Democrats that would then go before the state's voters in November for approval. |
| 1:10.4 | Other states, both red and |
| 1:11.7 | blue, have signaled that they could follow with new maps of their own. Also in Texas, a federal |
| 1:16.9 | judge temporarily blocked the state from requiring that schools display the Ten Commandments in every |
| 1:22.1 | classroom. In a 55-page ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Fred Berry wrote, |
| 1:32.5 | The displays could adversely affect the children by suppressing expression of their own religious or non-religious background and beliefs while at school. |
| 1:36.0 | Today's decision follows similar legal challenges in Louisiana and Arkansas. |
| 1:40.4 | The issue is expected to eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court. |
| 1:44.3 | Here in Washington, Vice President J.D. Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited National Guard troops at Union Station today amid protests over their presence in the city. |
| 1:54.7 | Appreciate you. |
... |
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