House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., have been calling state legislators about the map, which could affect control of Congress.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., have been calling state legislators about the map, which could affect control of Congress.
I imagine the house GOP is thinking “What are you going to do about it.”
guess we’re at the fuck around and find out stage
I don’t think folks are recognizing the amount of FAFO going on.
Well, there are options aside from sending in troops. The article notes that there can still be challenges to these maps, and one outcome is that the court throws out the legislatures maps entirely and hires a special master.
Maybe they should hire the one they used in NY. He was so effective at making competitive districts and avoiding gerrymandering that the Democrats lost 4 House seats there, making up most of the Republican Majority this Congress. If your goal is to level the playing field, he’s your man.
The thing is, there’s nothing to find out. The SC (compromised as it is) says “no, you can’t do that”. The state government is saying “cool bro imma do it anyways”. If the feds impose a new map, what happens if the state just ignores it outright? Or any other measures intended to enforce this decision?
You’re right, there’s not much the federal government can do to force this directly, but indirectly, they can decide where federal funding goes. and Alabama gets 41.2% of it’s state revenue from federal funding.
Which is why I actually find this low-key hilarious, because if this is somehow left to stand, it implies that states who are net providers (I.e. most blue states) can simply ignore the SC.
Strategic thinking is not the GOP’s strong suit.
What are they gonna go, send in the military?
The funniest part of it is that this 100% has the potential to set up some sort of precedent for when the shoe is on the other foot. Like, if the Supreme Court orders CA to do something extremely shitty or anti-democratic, what happens if Newsom (or whoever is governor at that point) and the CA legislature just says “make me”?
California has a history of “make me.”
Economically, California is (at least was, I don’t know if it still is) capable of sustaining itself separated from federal money. It even has the power to set national standards, like the “known to cause cancer” warning. Which may seem like it’s slapped on everything, but from what I remember, its slapped on everything containing any carcinogens, covering products even after their lifespan into disposal (if you burn a product but it doesn’t destroy the carcinogen it’s still a risk since it’s airborne or in waste.)
Alabama is just completely fucked if they get cutoff from federal money.
I did a road trip from Los Angeles to Florida about a decade ago to help my college roommate move for med school. I recall seeing multiple billboards driving through gulf coast states saying things like
And some of the states didn’t even have the “state funding” part.
I really would enjoy seeing these states find out what happens when you fuck around with the people who are buttering your bread.