President Donald Trump may have just created a Cold War-like political atmosphere for Republicans, according to one GOP lawmaker.
Texas Republicans passed a new election map on Wednesday that eliminates five Democratic-held seats in Congress. The move came after Trump's Justice Department and Trump himself publicly pressured state Republicans to pass a new map so the party could maintain its majority following the 2026 midterm election. Democratic mayors in states like California and New York have vowed to pass new maps to undo the impact of the new Texas map.
This scenario is a political nightmare, according to Indiana state Rep. Ed Clere, a Republican, who told Politico on Thursday that there are some Republicans who are unwilling to accept this mission.
“What Texas and California are doing is simply wrong for America,” he said. “It is the political equivalent of the Cold War concept of MAD — mutually assured destruction. Indiana needs to take the high road.”
Marty Obst, a Republican strategist in Indiana, told the outlet that Trump's "hands-on engagement" with state lawmakers has been key to pushing forward with new election maps.
“If [state lawmakers] know that the White House is active, and they know for the president himself this is a top priority, it’s going to be very hard for them not to carry that out," Obst said.