All posts tagged: Truce

Some Lawmakers Want a Gerrymandering Truce

Some Lawmakers Want a Gerrymandering Truce

Published by Daniella Wilson

Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick and Tom Suozzi occupy a lonely space in Congress. Their respective parties—Fitzpatrick is a Republican from Pennsylvania, Suozzi a Democrat from New York—are waging a nationwide gerrymandering fight that neither wants any part in. With the seat-for-seat battle expanding to new states seemingly by the day, Fitzpatrick and Suozzi are calling for a truce—if only anyone would listen. “There’s got to be people that come to the table and agree that it’s in the best interest of our nation to not do this, that it’s a race to the bottom,” Fitzpatrick told me. National leaders in both parties, however, are in no mood for peace. President Trump has directed Republicans to seize every opportunity to draw House seats in their favor, in hope that the GOP can create a buffer big enough to overcome the president’s sagging poll numbers in the midterm elections this fall. The Supreme Court’s decision to weaken the Voting Rights Act last month freed Republicans to redistrict even more aggressively across the Deep South, building on the party’s …

There Is No Truce in Minneapolis

There Is No Truce in Minneapolis

Published by Daniella Wilson

The state and local officials meeting with Tom Homan, who was put in charge of the federal immigration operation in Minnesota this week, have generally agreed that their encounters have been cordial and productive, a welcome change from the militaristic approach taken by his predecessor. Homan has also cast these discussions in a positive light, expressing optimism Thursday that “commonsense cooperation” on immigration enforcement in Minneapolis will allow him to draw down the thousands of agents that have flooded the city for the past two months. But beyond the pleasantries, Homan is finding little appetite in Minnesota for the kind of targeted, aggressive immigration enforcement he has long sought to enact in Democratic-run cities and states. After the shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents, there is even less trust among local leaders that the Trump administration can be a reliable partner. Although Homan has acknowledged that the immigration surge in Minnesota has not “been perfect,” his upbeat predictions of a smooth and swift détente seem to underestimate how much ill …