Supreme Court readies lifeline for House Republicans [View all]
By Ronald Brownstein / Bloomberg Opinion
The GOP’s best chance of defending its narrow, five-seat majority in the House of Representatives in 2026 — and beyond — could come from an upcoming Supreme Court decision on the Voting Rights Act.
From any angle, Republicans face difficult odds in November. No party has successfully maintained unified control of the White House, the House and the Senate through a midterm election since 1978. Recent indicators, from President Donald Trump’s sagging approval ratings to the strong Democratic performance in the 2025 elections, offer Republicans little reason for optimism that they can break that streak.
Even Trump’s strategy of pressuring red states to redraw their congressional districts has largely fizzled. Though Texas and other Republican-controlled states have acted, the combination of GOP reluctance elsewhere (most prominently in Indiana) and offsetting Democratic responses (most notably in California) has reduced the GOP’s net advantage from this unusual mid-decade tit-for-tat to just a handful of seats; not enough to meaningfully improve their chances of maintaining control.
But the Republican-appointed Supreme Court majority could throw House Republicans a lifeline. In oral arguments last fall, the conservative justices appeared poised to significantly limit, if not completely overturn, the provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that bars changes in election laws that have the effect of discriminating against racial minorities.
https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comment-supreme-court-readies-lifeline-for-house-republicans/
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