MORNING REPORT

Friday, October 30 | By Jared Gans

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In today's issue:

▪ Dems dealt blow in VRA case

▪ House approves FISA extension

▪ Powell staying on Fed board

▪ Congressional deaths tick up

Doom for Democrats in the South?

The Supreme Court’s ruling further curtailing the Voting Rights Act (VRA) could spell trouble for Democrats’ congressional representation in the South.

The court’s 6-3 decision Wednesday only directly strikes down the current congressional map for Louisiana, which had sued to protest the second Black-majority congressional district the state had been required to draw. But it could have wide-ranging implications for other Black-majority districts throughout the South that have been safeguarded by the VRA’s voting rights protections.

Republicans across the South almost immediately began agitating to redraw their congressional maps due to the decision, opening a new chapter in a gerrymandering fight that has already defined this midterm cycle.

The ruling didn’t strike down Section 2 of the VRA, which prevents election practices that deny equal access to the political process based on race, as many liberals and civil rights advocates feared, but it could significantly rein in the provision’s usage. Justice Elena Kagan declared in her fiery dissent that the court has conducted a “now-completed demolition” of the VRA.

“I dissent because the Court betrays its duty to faithfully implement the great statute Congress wrote. I dissent because the Court’s decision will set back the foundational right Congress granted of racial equality in electoral opportunity,” she said.

Although Louisiana was the only state suing in the case, other states in the South and elsewhere have previously drawn majority-minority districts to comply with the VRA. Those districts are now at particularly risk of being broken up by Republicans.

While it’s too late in the 2026 calendar for many states to make changes before the midterms, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) appears anxious to try.

The Washington Post reported Landry told Republican House candidates he plans to suspend the state’s primaries, currently scheduled for just more than two weeks away, to allow state lawmakers to approve a new map first.

One state where the effects may also be more immediate is Florida, where state legislators sent a new congressional map to Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Wednesday. The map could allow Republicans to net up to four currently Democratic-held seats in November.

The Florida state constitution has clear anti-partisan gerrymandering language, but DeSantis’s legal team is arguing the VRA ruling would also invalidate that text. A legal battle is almost certain to follow once DeSantis signs the map into effect.

Zachary Donnini, the head of data science for the political media organization VoteHub, told Morning Report that he expects much more litigation and rulings related to the VRA to come, including from the Supreme Court.

“This isn't going to be the last time that the Supreme Court has a kind of landmark ruling on Section 2 in the VRA in the next probably five years,” he said.

“I think that [Justice Samuel Alito’s] wording and how Kagan is reacting in the dissent makes me think it's more likely than not that Republicans in the South, if they decide to at the state level, will be able to draw out a lot of these seats,” Donnini said. “That being said, it is not anywhere close to decided.”

Donnini said a second Black-majority district in Alabama, which was created in 2023 after the Supreme Court found a previous map likely violated the VRA, is directly at risk because of the latest ruling.

That could eventually cost both Reps. Cleo Fields (D-La.) and Shomari Figures (D-Ala.) their seats in Congress.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), who is running for governor of Tennessee, called on state lawmakers to redraw the state's congressional lines to create a new map entirely favoring Republicans. That would target Rep. Steve Cohen, the lone Democrat in Tennessee’s delegation.

Republicans running for governor of Georgia called on state lawmakers to enact a new map.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) declined to call a special session of the state Legislature to redraw the state’s lines, noting that litigation surrounding its congressional districts is currently pending.

The fate is unclear for other majority-minority districts in the southern, such as those currently represented by Democratic Reps. Bennie Thompson in Mississippi and James Clyburn in South Carolina, Donnini said.

If Republicans do target Democratic-held seats in the South, Democrats are already signaling they’re prepared to fight back.

Rep. Terri Sewell, the other Democrat in Alabama’s congressional delegation, said at a press conference that Democrats in solidly blue states should respond with their own redistricting to take every possible seat.

"I can't speak for my chairwoman, but I'd take 52 seats from California and 17 seats from Illinois,” she said.

That would echo the tit-for-tat national redistricting battle that has played out for the past year, which now looks like the prologue for an even bigger battle heading into 2028.

▪ The Hill: National redistricting war reignites with ruling.

▪ The Hill: President Trump’s reaction to the ruling.

▪ The Hill: House GOP praises ruling as ‘victory for the Constitution.’

Smart Take
with Blake Burman

Members from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee received a closed-door briefing from Secret Service Director Sean Curran on Wednesday. Security for Trump remains a top concern after Saturday’s close call at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.) told me conversations involved designating more events with the president at the highest priority level. I asked him if the Secret Service should move out of the Department of Homeland Security and become its own agency.

“If we need to be classifying certain events as the highest security events in [National Special Security Event] and Secret Service wants to do that and they can’t because they are in a bureaucracy where they have to get approvals, then maybe that does need to change,” Subramanyam told me.

The assassination attempt in Butler, Pa., in 2024 led to a lengthy report with many suggestions for the Secret Service. More reforms are likely coming. Subramanyam said other changes could include the Secret Service working more closely with local fire marshals.

Burman hosts "The Hill" weeknights, 6p/5c on NewsNation.

3 Things to Know Today

Acting U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Julie Davis will leave her role in June after a year in the post. A State Department spokesperson denied reports that Davis is leaving over frustrations with the president's policy toward Ukraine.
Former FBI Director James Comey made his first court appearance Wednesday after being indicted for a second time on charges that he threatened Trump. He did not enter a plea.
Trump said federal stock holdings in Intel have generated more than $30 billion for the country in the past 90 days. He authorized the federal government to invest in the struggling semiconductor chip manufacturing company last summer.

LEADING THE DAY

JOHNSON GOES 2 FOR 3: House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) managed to push through two major pieces of legislation on Wednesday night but agreed to punt on a third as part of a deal keeping his conference together.

The House first voted to pass a three-year extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows the federal government to spy on foreigners abroad without obtaining a warrant, by a vote of 235-191. The provision is set to expire Thursday and needs to pass in the Senate before going to Trump’s desk.

Johnson then overcame a rebellion within his conference to get passed a budget blueprint to fund immigration enforcement after more than two months of a funding gap. Republican leaders kept the vote open for hours as they won over holdouts to pass the bill on party-line vote.

Earlier in the day, the House GOP cleared a major hurdle in gathering enough support to pass a rule that set up consideration of the two measures.

The vote on the rule was held open for more than two hours as GOP leaders worked to win over the Republican holdouts. To eventually persuade them, leadership offered several compromises and sweeteners, but they could create complications for getting the FISA bill through the Senate.

One concession that Republican leaders had to make was agreeing to delay a vote on the farm bill, which sets agriculture policy for the next five years, in the face of opposition from hard-line conservatives.

Sticking points on that legislation included a measure permitting year-round sales of gasoline with a high ethanol content and controversial provisions on pesticides. Both have caused notable divisions with the GOP, the latter particularly with those aligned with the Make America Healthy Again movement.

▪ The Hill: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth clashes with House Dems.

BETTING ON THE BLOCKADE: The president has reportedly rejected Tehran's latest offer to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz while postponing talks on Iran’s nuclear program, vowing to keep a blockade of the waterway in place.

Trump told Axios in an interview Wednesday that he sees the blockade as “somewhat more effective” than the bombing of Iran. Earlier in the day, Trump met with energy executives about steps that could allow the U.S. to keep the blockade in place for months.

“They want to settle. They don't want me to keep the blockade. I don't want to [lift the blockade], because I don't want them to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump told Axios.

Three sources told the outlet that U.S. Central Command has also prepared for a “short and powerful” wave of strikes on Iran with the goal of breaking a negotiating deadlock. They said Trump hadn’t issued any order as of Tuesday night.

Although Trump extended the ceasefire with Iran indefinitely while negotiations continue, the two sides haven’t met a second time to try to reach a deal.

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Iranians are already feeling intense economic pain sue to the war, with spiking unemployment and soaring food prices.

▪ The Hill: Trump discussed extending blockade with energy executives.

▪ The Hill: Pentagon CFO says war has cost $25 billion.

STAYING PUT: The Federal Reserve voted to keep interest rates steady Wednesday as Chair Jerome Powell signaled he plans to stay at the central bank as a member of the board of governors after his term as the agency’s leader ends next month.

Powell said at what likely was his final press conference as chair that he will remain as a board member “for a period of time to be determined.” He reiterated his previous statements that he does not want to leave until the investigation into the agency is “well and truly over.”

The Department of Justice (DOJ) ended its investigation into Powell and the Fed last week amid bipartisan pushback to the probe, which examined the renovations being conducted at the Fed’s headquarters and Powell’s testimony about it before Congress. Officials said the investigation would be passed off to the agency’s inspector general.

“My decisions on these matters will continue to be guided entirely by what I believe is in the best interest of the institution and the people we serve,” Powell said.

Powell’s term as chair ends May 15, but his separate term as a board member lasts until January 2028.

The interest rate decision and Powell’s comments came as the Senate Banking Committee advanced Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh to be the Fed’s next chair. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) cast a key vote in favor of advancing the nomination after the DOJ ended its investigation, allowing Warsh to advance in a 13-11 party-line vote.

▪ CNBC: Interest rate decision records most dissents since 1992.

▪ The Economist: How Warsh could save the Fed.

BONDI'S U-TURN: Former Attorney General Pam Bondi has agreed to testify on her handling of the Epstein files despite her departure from the DOJ, weeks after she skipped her previously scheduled deposition.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee confirmed Bondi will appear on May 29. She had been set to appear earlier this month after the committee approved a subpoena for her testimony, but the DOJ signaled after Trump fired her as attorney general that she would not comply since she was no longer serving in that position.

The committee’s Democrats introduced a resolution to hold Bondi in contempt, but four of the five Republicans who had supported the subpoena expressed opposition to the move, questioning how valuable her testimony would be.

Democrats rejected that, arguing she had much knowledge on the topic, including related to accusations that the DOJ hasn’t fully complied with the law requiring the files’ release. They also noted that other former attorneys general had been subpoenaed by the committee to testify.

The news of Bondi’s rescheduled testimony came as the Government Accountability Office said Wednesday that it would review the DOJ’s compliance with the law. The DOJ inspector general is also investigating.

▪ The Hill: Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) says Jimmy Kimmel has right to attack Trump.

WHEN & WHERE

The president will participate in executive time at 8 a.m. He and first lady Melania Trump will bid farewell to King Charles III and Queen Camilla at 10:50 a.m. The president will participate in a phone interview at 11:30 a.m. and sign an executive order at 2 p.m. He will participate in policy meetings at 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.
The House will convene at 9 a.m.
The Senate will meet at 10 a.m.

ZOOM IN

DEATHS IN CONGRESS: Rep. David Scott’s (D-Ga.) passing last week is the latest in a string of deaths facing Congress amid a backdrop of growing concerns over the aging legislative body.

The current session of Congress, the 119th, is on track to surpass recent sessions’ number of member deaths, The Hill’s Sarah Fortinsky reports. It’s also one of the oldest Congresses on record, with a median age of 57.5 years old in the House and 64.7 years old in the Senate, according to the Pew Research Center.

Scott was the fifth member to die this session.

Other than the 110th Congress, all sessions from 2003 to 2013 saw either one or no members die. Since then, deaths have begun to tick up.

Four members died during the 118th, six during the 117th, three during the 116th, three died the 115th, two during the 114th and two during the 113th, Fortinsky reports.

Gregory Koger, a political science professor at the University of Miami and director of its Hanley Democracy Center, told Fortinsky the rise corresponds with an aging Congress and few incentives to retire.

“If you've got a member of Congress, who is in a safe seat, there isn't a strong mechanism to encourage them to retire when they have reached the limits of their health or their energy or their interest in the job,” he said. “So, a lot of them do stay on.”

▪ NBC News: A dozen members of Congress over 80 are running for re-election.

▪ The Associated Press: Tracking House retirements.

ELSEWHERE

BREAKING THROUGH: Democratic candidates for governor of California are trying to break away from the crowded field with less than a week before ballots get sent out to voters.

Contenders are trying to capitalize from the exit of former Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), who looked like the Democratic front-runner before he dropped out earlier this month amid sexual misconduct allegations. So far, former California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and billionaire Tom Steyer have been the top candidates for the Democrats, battling with each other for momentum in the primary’s home stretch.

But as The Hill’s Julia Mueller reports, no candidate has achieved a breakout moment yet.

Mueller notes the stakes are high for Democrats to coalesce around a front-runner. California’s electoral system has all candidates compete on the same ballot, with the two top performers advancing to the general election regardless of party.

With a half-dozen serious Democratic contenders splitting the vote, polls still show Republican candidate Steve Hilton ahead.

But up to a quarter of voters remain undecided in recent polls, giving Democrats plenty of room to make up ground if a candidate can rise above the pack.

▪ The Hill: Candidates struggle for standout moment at feisty debate.

▪ The Hill: Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D) endorses former colleague in Texas runoff.

FIRST FLIGHT: A direct commercial flight between the U.S. and Venezuela is set to land in Caracas for the first time in seven years in the latest development as the two resume normal relations.

The Associated Press reported the flight is scheduled to depart Miami just past 10 a.m. and arrive three hours later in the Venezuelan capital before returning to Florida. It's being operated by Envoy Air, a subsidiary of American Airlines.

U.S. officials had previously suspended flights between the countries in 2019 over security concerns. But ties between the U.S. and Venezuela have been increasing since the U.S. raid to capture former leader Nicolás Maduro and the installation of Delcy Rodríguez as acting president.

OPINION

It’s time to deploy the ‘Presidents Club’ in the fight against political violence, Douglas MacKinnon writes in The Hill.
Florida isn’t a swing state anymore, and DeSantis’s new map knows it, Henry Olsen writes in The Washington Post.

THE CLOSER

And finally … It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for the weekly news quiz!

The War Powers Act is in the spotlight this week as the Iran war is set to pass the key 60-day mark, at which point the law limits military action without congressional authorization. So this quiz will test your knowledge on the landmark resolution that marked a new era for U.S. foreign policy.

Be sure to email your responses to jgans@thehill.com — please add “Quiz” to your subject line. Winners who submit correct answers will receive deserved newsletter fame on Friday.

Under which president was the War Powers Act passed?

1. John F. Kennedy

2. Lyndon B. Johnson

3. Richard Nixon

4. Jimmy Carter

How many times has the act been invoked by Congress to restrict a president’s authority in a conflict?

1. Never

2. Once

3. Three times

4. Five times

None of the following were officially declared wars. But which one never received authorization from Congress?

1. Korean War