Still, Jeffries isn’t worried that Republican redistricting success would effectively hand the GOP control of the House in the 2026 midterms. Last time Trump was in office, Democrats flipped 41 seats, which would be more than enough to win the majority and make Jeffries speaker even if Republicans force through several more gerrymanders.

According to a copy of the letter posted on X by state Rep. Venton Jones, D-Dallas, the total fine is $9,345.25. A spokesman for the House Democratic Caucus confirmed that all of the Democrats who remained absent received the letter.

In the last week, with lightning speed, the nation's foremost political leaders have jettisoned any pretense of political fairness in favor of an all-out partisan war for power.

Lofgren, the chair of California’s 43-member Democratic delegation, consulted in June with a trusted data expert who dismissed it as absurd — a foolhardy end-run around the state’s popular redistricting panel with no guarantee of yielding enough blue seats to fully offset Texas.

The Texas Senate on Saturday approved new congressional maps drawn to help Republicans win as many as five more House seats in next year’s midterm elections.

The map’s passage was a major victory in President Trump’s push to get Republican state leaders to help his party keep control of the U.S. House.