TRUMP’S TEST: The power of Trump’s endorsement in the Republican Party will be put to the test today in more than a half-dozen Indiana state Senate primaries where the president is trying to oust GOP incumbents.
Trump followed through on his threat to support primary challengers to any state Republican lawmakers who rebuffed his push for the Hoosier State to redraw its congressional district lines ahead of the midterms.
He has regularly endorsed in Republican primaries to back his preferred candidates, but a president wading into state legislative races has been almost unheard of previously.
The president has endorsed challengers to seven sitting GOP incumbents — state Sens. Spencer Deery, Greg Goode, Travis Holdman, Dan Dernulc, Linda Rogers, Greg Walker and Jim Buck.
Pro-redistricting groups have spent millions of dollars seeking to help oust them. Influential conservative organizations such as Club for Growth and Turning Point USA have weighed in to support the challengers.
With virtually no polling in the contests, knowing how much of a chance the challengers have is difficult, The Hill’s Julia Mueller reports. Experts say the results could be a mixed bag.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if you know, several of [the incumbents] go down. I would not be surprised if several of those who the president opposes win pretty handily,” said Scott Tranter, the director of data science for Decision Desk HQ.
If the challengers win, they will have Trump to thank, said Pete Seat, an Indiana GOP strategist.
▪ The Hill: GOP, Trump face tough midterm odds.
▪ The Hill: Dems wonder if they need an outsider.
‘SIGNED, SEALED, AND DELIVERED’: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has signed a new congressional map into law that could provide his party with four additional seats in the November midterms.
The move marks the latest effort by Republicans to try to shore up as many House seats as they can through mid-decade redistricting ahead of the midterms, in which they will try to hold onto their narrow majority in the lower chamber. DeSantis announced the move in a post on social media.
The map still faces hurdles as Democrats have vowed to challenge the map in court.
The map quickly picked up one legal challenge as a Black-led, nonpartisan organization called the Equal Ground Education Fund filed a lawsuit against the map hours after DeSantis approved it.
The redistricting battle isn’t done, as Republicans in states including Tennessee and Alabama have pushed for redrawing their congressional lines following the Supreme Court’s decision last week further restricting the Voting Rights Act.
▪ Florida Politics: The state of play under the new map.
▪ The Associated Press: Redistricting war accelerates winner-take-all combat.
GREEN LIGHT: The Supreme Court sped up the implementation of its VRA ruling in Louisiana, ordering it to be put into effect immediately as GOP lawmakers move to enact a new congressional map for the midterms.
The court traditionally has a 32-day default window following an opinion before a case is returned to a lower court. But the court moved to send it back Monday, all but ensuring the state will have the opportunity to redraw one of its two majority Black House districts.
Justices Samuel Alito and Ketanji Brown Jackson stood on opposite sides of the ruling, accusing the other of lacking restraint. Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch joined Alito's opinion, but no other justice disclosed their vote.
A Louisiana legislative committee is expected to meet Friday to hear public comments on a new congressional map and will plan to meet again early next week to vote on it. The map could give the GOP an additional pickup opportunity in the midterms.
▪ The Hill: Top Democrat pushing for redistricting in New York.
ABORTION PILL BATTLE: Alito has briefly paused an appeals court ruling that would prevent one of the two abortion pills from being prescribed without an in-person doctor visit.
Alito ordered the ruling paused for one week as the Supreme Court considers the case. The order will temporarily restore access to the drug but doesn’t necessarily indicate the court’s thinking on the issue, The Hill’s Zach Schonfeld and Nathaniel Weixel report.
The ruling came after drug manufacturers asked the high court to freeze the ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, which blocked a 2023 regulation allowing mifepristone to be prescribed through telehealth, in pharmacies and through the mail.
Medication abortions have become increasingly common in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022 as right-leaning states have significantly restricted access to the procedure since then. The parties in the case will have until Thursday to respond.
▪ NPR: How medication abortion works with just one drug.
▪ The New York Times: Abortion laws across the country.
UNDER CONTROL: Officials quickly secured the area after a shooting happened near the National Mall on Monday, an incident that led to the press at the White House being evacuated from the North Lawn.
A bystander was shot during the shooting that took place at 15th Street and Independence Avenue adjacent to the Washington Monument. A man whom the Secret Service described as a “suspicious individual” was also shot and taken to a hospital.
The bystander is a juvenile and did not receive life-threatening injuries.
The Secret Service said it had not immediately determined a motive for the shooting.
