Andrew Schneider/Houston Public Media
U.S. Rep. Al Green of Houston slammed Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s plan to redraw some of the state’s congressional districts mid-decade during the upcoming special legislative session, under pressure from the administration of President Donald Trump. Green is pledging to fight the move by filing a lawsuit as well as fresh articles of impeachment against the Republican president.
Green, a Democrat, holds one of four seats identified in a letter from the U.S. Department of Justice as “unconstitutional racial gerrymanders.” The letter threatened a lawsuit against Texas unless it redrew the boundaries of the four districts.
Three of the seats are held by Democrats of color – Green and U.S. Reps. Sylvia Garcia of Houston and Marc Veasey of Fort Worth. The fourth is vacant but has historically been represented by Black Democrats, most recently the late U.S. Sylvester Turner of Houston.
Turner died in March. A month later, Abbott called a November special election to fill his seat, prompting criticism from Democrats because the Republican governor did not put the special election on the May ballot.
“It is about racism, and it is about partisan, Republican racism, a desire to eliminate Black representation, weaken Latino representation, in the Congress of the United States of America,” Green said Friday.
Green said he would challenge the redistricting plan legally – if necessary, taking it as far as the U.S. Supreme Court.
“But make no mistake about it,” Green said. “If the Supreme Court won’t engage itself in the process, and if the governor buys into what the president wants, and the Justice Department proceeds with it, and we don’t have Republicans in the House to deal with it, then there’s but one remedy left, and that’s impeachment.”
Green has filed numerous articles of impeachment against Trump, dating back to the first year of the president’s first term of office.
Green wasn’t the only Texas Democratic member of Congress to attack Trump and Abbott over the congressional redistricting plan. U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-Houston), who is white and whose district was not targeted, issued a statement blasting the move as a betrayal of all Texans, no matter their political affiliation.
“Texans are already burdened with one of the most gerrymandered congressional maps in the country,” Fletcher said. “Republicans already have a lopsided partisan advantage. Now, they are prioritizing helping out-of-state political operatives abuse the voting rights and distort the political will of Texans so that national Republicans can try to hold on to the majority of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.”
Abbott’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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