Politics

Portside - A federal district court’s order on Thursday allowing South Carolina to use a racially discriminatory congressional map for the 2024 election cycle is a gut punch to Black voters. “For over a century, the NAACP has worked fervently to protect Black Americans’ access to the ballot box. Make no mistake — these discriminatory maps are a direct attempt to suppress Black voices ahead of a consequential election,” Brenda Murphy, the president of the South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, a plaintiff in the case, said in a statement. Without a fair map, it would be enormously difficult for Black voters to elect a representative who has their interests at heart and who would fight for them on issues ranging from education to criminal justice to health care. MORE

 

Speaker Johnson’s job is on the line as the House returns. The next two weeks are the most critical of Johnson’s nearly six-month tenure atop a very wobbly House with a majority that continues to narrow. His chief priority is passing a bill funding Ukraine that also sends aid to Israel and Indo-Pacific allies. Unlike a national security package that passed the Senate, House Republicans across the ideological spectrum insist that any foreign aid deal must also include measures that strengthen U.S. borders. But the shape of that package will be fiercely debated, and a route to passage is unpredictable and murky. With just a two-vote majority, Republicans have been unable to achieve consensus on such divisive issues, angering a far-right desperate for ideological purity. Choosing a bipartisan route is also complicated: Getting lawmakers to agree on anything related to Ukraine and Israel, especially with outrage mounting about civilian casualties in Gaza, is an almost impossible task, given the partisanship and anger in today’s House. [...] Another speakership fight seven months before the elections would only further expose the chronic disarray in the House Republican Conference and the difficulty it has had in governing. Many House Republicans acknowledge their inability to agree on passing anything — whether narrow messaging bills that will not become law or more substantive legislation — may harm their quest to stay in and expand their majority.