Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson, and today is Thursday, August 21st, 2025. This is USA Today's

today's the excerpt. Today, Texas Republicans approve a Trump-backed congressional map, plus how the

Justice Department wants the Supreme Court to make clear that

drug users should not be allowed firearms. And a judge blocks a Texas law requiring the Ten Commandments

in public schools. Texas Republicans yesterday passed a new state congressional map intended to flip

five Democratic-held U.S. House seats up for grabs in the

2026 elections. The move came after dozens of Democratic lawmakers ended a two-week walkout, temporarily

delaying the bill's passage. The 88 to 52 votes saw Republican legislators, which have dominated

Texas politics for more than two decades, undertake a rare mid-decade redistricting to help improve their

party's odds of holding a narrow House majority.

The map expected to be in sync with the state's Senate's version and then eventually signed by

Republican Governor Greg Abbott, before becoming official, has sparked a national redistricting battle.

Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom is working on a strategy to redraw his state's map to convert five Republican seats.

The Justice Department wants the Supreme Court to make clear that regular pot smokers and other drug users cannot own guns.

I spoke with USA Today Supreme Court correspondent Maureen Gropi for more. Thanks for joining correspondent, Maureen Gropi, for more.

Thanks for joining me, Maureen. Hey, thanks for having me. So just starting here, I mean, what exactly

is the government appealing to the Supreme Court as it pertains to drug use and guns? So the Justice

Department wants the court to make clear that people who smoke pot or use other illegal drugs on a

regular basis shouldn't

be allowed to own a gun. Specifically, they're appealing rulings from lower courts that said a federal

law that makes it a crime for drug users to have a gun is unconstitutional unless the person is

actually high when they have the gun. In other words, past drug use is not enough to disqualify

...