Democrats and voting rights advocates have denounced the redistricting effort, which is designed to give the GOP five more seats in the U.S. House.

The Republican-controlled Texas House of Representatives passed Wednesday a redrawn congressional map that creates up to five new winnable GOP seats in Congress.

While Gov. Greg Abbott blasted through a Democratic blockade and advanced a new congressional map, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is eying a new map in his state.

Former President Barack Obama said Tuesday that he supported a proposal by California Democrats to redraw congressional lines in response to a Republican-led push in Texas to gain additional US House seats but expressed unease with the broader effects of political gerrymandering.

The redistricting fight returned to the Texas House. Lawmakers wasted no time pressing each other on the details.

Texas House Democrats on Wednesday plan to offer an amendment that would block a Republican redistricting effort until the complete release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Why it matters: The Democratic effort,

Other Democratic lawmakers have joined a colleague in staying at the Texas Capitol rather than accept around-the-clock police escorts meant to prevent them from blocking a vote on a Republican plan for redrawing congressional districts as President Donald Trump wants.

The Texas Democrat who slept in the state Capitol on Monday is accusing the state's House speaker of illegally confining her and threatening her with arrest. Why it matters: Rep. Nicole Collier's court filing is an escalation of a two-week standoff between Texas Democrats and Republicans over rare mid-decade redistricting,