👋🏾 Hi, hey, hello! Welcome back to Congress Nerd, Once Upon a Hill’s premium flagship evening newsletter about all things Congress—written by someone who still believes in it. Congress is gone for the week and you’re receiving this as I settle in as my Cowboys go for a fourth consecutive win against the Detroit Lions.
In tonight’s issue, fresh reporting on the strained relationship between House Speaker MIKE JOHNSON (R-La.) and House Minority Leader HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-N.Y.), why congressional Democrats are comfortable demanding Republicans extend the ACA premium tax credits for three years and the growing Democratic frustration with the GOP-led government funding process.
But let’s start with breaking news on the redistricting wars…
The Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority will allow Texas to use its newly redrawn congressional map for the 2026 elections, concluding in a decision filed earlier this evening that the state is likely to win its appeal and that the lower court overreached in blocking the plan.
In a brief, unsigned order, the majority said the three-judge district court failed to apply the usual presumption that legislatures act in good faith and improperly dismissed Texas’s argument that the map reflected partisan goals, not racial sorting. The Court also criticized the lower court for failing to produce, or requiring challengers to produce, an alternative map that preserved the state’s partisan objectives without the alleged racial effects. With candidate-filing deadlines approaching, the majority said altering the map now would risk voter confusion and election disruption. Texas Democrats argue the new gerrymander is what will cause chaos.
The Court’s three liberal justices dissented, accusing the majority of brushing aside a meticulous, nine-day trial that produced a 160-page ruling concluding Texas used race as the predominant factor in redrawing multiple districts. Justice ELENA KAGAN wrote that the district court’s factual findings deserved deference, particularly given evidence that lawmakers dismantled longstanding coalition districts and packed or cracked Black and brown voters in ways that weakened their influence. The dissent argued that the Court is allowing a map that sorts voters by race to stand and undermining constitutional protections meant to guard against precisely this kind of discrimination.
Next, a recap of the day’s floor action…
The House passed a bill to ban elementary and secondary schools from receiving federal education funds if they receive any indirect support from the People’s Republic of China. This includes partnerships with Chinese-funded cultural or language institutions, such as “Confucius Institutes,” as well as support from entities acting on China’s behalf. 33 Democrats joined all 214 voting Republicans on final passage in a 247–164 tally.
Members also approved legislation empowering parents to request and obtain for free any curricular or professional-development material purchased with funds from a “foreign country or foreign entity of concern.” 33 once again crossed party lines to push the bill across the finish line. The final vote: 247–166.
The Senate confirmed a North Carolina district judge and revoked a Biden-era rule that blocked nearly 1.56 million acres of land from potential oil and gas development. Both votes were along party lines. Meanwhile, Sen. MICHAEL BENNET (D-Colo.) threw a wrench into the Senate’s confirmation machinery this afternoon, objecting to a package of 88 Trump nominees after discovering it included an executive nominee who is ineligible to be fast-tracked under the chamber’s expedited en bloc process.
His challenge forced the GOP to abandon the simple-majority threshold and instead meet a 60-vote bar they couldn’t clear, prompting Republicans to pull the package, strip out the ineligible nominee and return with an even larger slate—adding ten more nominees and gleefully needling Bennet for inadvertently giving them a net procedural gain. Senate Republicans will look to approve the final package later this month before they adjourn for the holiday recess.
ICYMI: House Republican leadership had to pull a bill on Wednesday afternoon designed to establish a national name, image and likeness framework for college student-athletes after bipartisan opposition from the Congressional Black Caucus and House conservatives like Rep. CHIP ROY (R-Texas). I wrote about why the bill fell flat in the last edition of the newsletter.
Now, for the rest of my reporter’s notebook…