President Trump said on Thursday that Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee would work to correct the “unconstitutional flaw” in the state’s congressional map after the Supreme Court ruled to strike down a provision of the Voting Rights Act requiring majority-minority House districts. “Likewise, all of the other Political Representatives of Tennessee have promised to do so. This should give us one extra seat, and help Save our Country from the Radical Left Democrats, and their Country destroying Policies of High Tax, Open Borders, Transgender Mutilization, Defunding the Police, ICE, and Border Patrol, No Voter ID, Soft on Crime, and so much more,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. The Volunteer State has one Democrat-held seat in the U.S. House. TRUMP said he spoke to Tennessee Gov. BILL LEE about redistricting in Tennessee to get rid of the lone Democratic seat — Rep. Steve Cohen's Memphis district. pic.twitter.com/bUqBGYg5xE — Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) April 30, 2026 The Hill has more: It comes a day after Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) called on the state legislature to reconvene to redistrict for another GOP House seat in Memphis. “it’s essential to cement @realDonaldTrump’s agenda and the Golden Age of America,” she wrote on the social media platform X. Blackburn, who is running for governor, vowed to “keep Tennessee a red state, and as Governor, I’ll do everything I can to make this map a reality.” Republicans currently hold eight out of nine House seats. The call for the GOP to secure more seats comes as Republicans hold a slim majority in the House and are looking to keep it in the November midterms. “Fantastic news,” Blackburn said in response to Trump’s post. Fantastic news. Thank you, @realDonaldTrump and @BillLeeTN! pic.twitter.com/6lfZriTujh — Marsha Blackburn (@VoteMarsha) April 30, 2026 Axios shared further: Democrats would be sure to vehemently oppose a frantic redistricting effort. The odds of creating a 9-0 Republican map this year are steep at best. The qualifying deadline for the August primary has already passed and the field is set for this year’s election ballots. Any maneuver to change the boundaries in the span of a few months would surely trigger a lawsuit. Even if it can’t be done this year, Blackburn says she’s committed to a new map if she is elected governor. “Today’s ruling makes it harder to challenge unfair maps and practices designed to dilute the voices of communities like ours,” state Sen. Raumesh Akbari, a Memphis Democrat, said in a statement. “It hands Republicans across the South the legal cover to redraw districts in ways that will cost Black and Latino Americans seats in Congress, seats in state legislatures and seats at every table where decisions about their lives are made.” The state legislature previously sliced up the Nashville-area in 2022, redrawing the reliably blue District 5 and eliminating a Democratic U.S. House seat in Middle Tennessee.

Louisiana has suspended its congressional primaries after the Supreme Court ruled the state’s congressional map unconstitutional due to racial gerrymandering. Supreme Court Hands Republicans A Major Win In Louisiana Map Fight “Yesterday’s historic Supreme Court victory for Louisiana has an immediate consequence for the State. The Supreme Court previously stayed an injunction against the State’s enforcement of the current Congressional map. By the Court’s order, however, that stay automatically terminated with yesterday’s decision. Accordingly, the State is currently enjoined from carrying out congressional elections under the current map. We are working together with the Legislature and the Secretary of State’s office to develop a path forward," Gov. Jeff Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a joint statement. Governor Jeff Landry and @AGLizMurrill issued the following statement after yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling in Louisiana v. Callais. “Yesterday’s historic Supreme Court victory for Louisiana has an immediate consequence for the State. The Supreme Court previously stayed an… — Governor Jeff Landry (@LAGovJeffLandry) April 30, 2026 Early voting had been scheduled to begin on Saturday for the May 16 primary. More from the Associated Press: While civil rights activists denounced the potential for diminished minority representation in Congress, top Republicans cited the Supreme Court’s decision as justification to spur an already intense national redistricting battle among states before the November elections. “I think all states who have unconstitutional maps should look at that very carefully, and I think they should do it before the midterm,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters in Washington. Louisiana’s election suspension was denounced by some Democrats and questioned by some legal experts. “This is going to cause mass confusion among voters -- Democrats, Republicans, white, Black, everybody,” said Louisiana state Sen. Royce Duplessis, a Democrat who represents the New Orleans area. “What they’re effectively doing is changing the rules of the game in the middle of the game. It’s rigging the system.” While Louisiana officials may legally be able to move the primary, it’s not accurate to assert that it was blocked by the Supreme Court’s decision, said Ruth Greenwood, director of the Election Law Clinic at Harvard Law School. State Rep. Kyle Green, a former assistant state attorney general who is chair of the House Democratic caucus, also cast doubt on the legal justification for postponing the congressional primary. "Thank you to the Great Governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, for his leadership on the very important Callais case, and for moving so quickly to fix the Unconstitutionality of Louisiana's Congressional Maps. He has shown tremendous Vision, Strength, and Leadership. Thank you Jeff, keep up the GREAT work!" Trump said. "If there is one thing the Republican Party should learn from President @realDonaldTrump — it’s to FIGHT! That’s exactly what we are doing in Louisiana. Thank you for your support Mr. President!" Landry responded. If there is one thing the Republican Party should learn from President @realDonaldTrump— it’s to FIGHT! That’s exactly what we are doing in Louisiana. Thank you for your support Mr. President! pic.twitter.com/W4rbcTuPp9 — Governor Jeff Landry (@LAGovJeffLandry) April 30, 2026 NBC News shared further: Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry announced Thursday that while the U.S. House primaries would be "suspended," all other races, including the state's hotly contested Senate primary, "will continue as scheduled." NBC News had reported earlier Thursday that Gov. Jeff Landry had planned to delay the House races in light of Wednesday's Supreme Court ruling. Absentee voting for the May 16 primary is already underway in Louisiana, and early voting had been set to start for all races this weekend. The last-minute move means that the House races will still be on voters' ballots, but any votes in those elections won't count. The move to halt voting for the House primaries could face legal scrutiny. But Republicans are confident they'll be able to press pause on the process because the Supreme Court's ruling directly labeled Louisiana's congressional lines an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters Thursday that “the governor has no choice but to suspend” the May 16 primary “because the courts just ruled our map unconstitutional.”

The House of Representatives voted to remove a controversial provision in the farm bill that critics say would have provided pesticide manufacturers a “liability shield.” House Farm Bill With Controversial Pesticide Provision Potentially Up For Vote This Week "My amendment passed! Pesticide liability protections have been stripped from the farm bill," Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) announced. My amendment passed! Pesticide liability protections have been stripped from the farm bill.

The House of Representatives on Thursday passed legislation to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), effectively ending a record 75-day shutdown of the federal agency. The bill now heads to President Trump’s desk. According to NBC News, Trump urged lawmakers to pass the bill and vowed to sign it into law. “The House just passed the Senate DHS funding bill (funds all of DHS except ICE & CBP) via voice vote. There was no roll call vote requested. It now goes to President Trump’s desk for signature. Democrats had been demanding this for weeks,” Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin said. “Coast Guard, FEMA, Secret Service, CISA etc funding all included, but again, ICE and CBP are not. ICE and CBP will have to wait until Republicans can pass a second reconciliation bill without any Democratic votes in the Senate,” he added. BREAKING: The House just passed the Senate DHS funding bill (funds all of DHS except ICE & CBP) via voice vote. There was no roll call vote requested. It now goes to President Trump's desk for signature. Democrats had been demanding this for weeks. Coast Guard, FEMA, Secret… — Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) April 30, 2026 NBC News has more: Both ICE and border enforcement had funding during the shutdown, and Republicans will attempt in the coming weeks to keep them funded for the rest of Trump’s term. The House’s action came right against a critical deadline. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin had warned lawmakers that if they did not pass funding by Thursday, emergency funding would run out and thousands of workers would not be paid. The successful vote came before House and Senate lawmakers departed for a weeklong recess at the end of Thursday. House and Senate lawmakers still need to make sure a foreign spying program doesn’t expire Thursday. Once Trump signs the funding bill, DHS agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration and the Secret Service would be funded through the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30. “If this funding is exhausted, the Administration will be unable to pay DHS personnel beginning in May, which will once again unleash havoc on air travel, leave critical law enforcement officers—including our brave Secret Service agents—and the Coast Guard without paychecks, and jeopardize national security,” an internal memo from the White House to congressional offices read, according to Fox News. The administration had been using existing funds to cover “six weeks of back pay and a new pay period for DHS employees,” the outlet noted. The longest partial shutdown in US history is nearing an end as the House passed funding for most of the DHS, just days ahead of missed paychecks for TSA workers that threatened to throw airports into chaos https://t.co/kqyGsZsQBF — Bloomberg (@business) April 30, 2026 Fox News shared further: Trump has requested top Republicans send the immigration enforcement measure to his desk by June 1. Johnson said he dropped his objections to the Senate bill after his chamber took the first step toward funding Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda late Wednesday. “We had to ensure that they could not isolate and eliminate those two critical agencies,” Johnson told reporters. “That was critically important for us to ensure that we’re going to protect the homeland.” Some Republicans argued that failure to move the Senate’s DHS bill prior to leaving Washington for a planned recess was untenable. “We have got to fund DHS, even if it’s 80% of DHS,” Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital in an interview. “We’re in a dangerous position with funding levels right now. We have to get this done before we even think of leaving on a recess.” Langworthy sent a letter, obtained by Fox News Digital, to Johnson earlier in the week imploring the speaker to put the Senate’s DHS bill up for a vote. “What other avenue of approach are you going to have? Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital when asked about whether the House would take up the Senate’s languishing DHS bill. “This is hurting families of individuals willing to serve their communities, their nation, their state. Why wouldn’t we?”

The United States military presence in Germany may soon be reduced. In a post on Truth Social on Wednesday, President Trump announced that the U.S. is currently evaluating measures to possibly reduce U.S. Forces in Germany. Germany currently hosts the second-largest number of U.S. soldiers outside of the U.S., behind only Japan. CBS News had the full scoop on Trump’s announcement about the possible move: President Trump said Wednesday he is considering reducing the number of U.S. forces in Germany, amid a spat with Germany’s chancellor and the NATO alliance over Iran. “The United States is studying and reviewing the possible reduction of Troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short period of time,” he wrote on Truth Social. The U.S. military has a massive presence in Germany that dates back to the aftermath of World War II and the Cold War. More than 36,000 active duty troops were assigned to bases throughout Germany as of last December, along with nearly 1,500 reservists and 11,500 civilians, according to Defense Department figures. Germany is also home to the headquarters of U.S. European Command and Africa Command, and its Ramstein Air Base is a key hub for U.S. operations. The president has grown increasingly frustrated with the U.S.’s allies in Europe, which have sought to keep their distance from the U.S.-Iran war. He has threatened to leave NATO, calling the alliance a “paper tiger” for not entering the war. A 2023 law prevents the president from withdrawing the U.S. from NATO without approval from Congress. Meanwhile, Europe is grappling with higher energy prices as the Iran conflict severely constrains oil exports from the Middle East. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz appeared to draw Mr. Trump’s ire after he criticized the U.S.’s handling of the war earlier this week, saying “the Americans clearly have no strategy” on Iran and suggesting the U.S. is being “humiliated” by Iranian negotiators. Take a look at Trump’s full statement below: TRUMP: The United States is studying and reviewing the possible reduction of Troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short period of time. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP pic.twitter.com/HoxrCJZOiG — Breaking911 (@Breaking911) April 29, 2026 Two days earlier, President Trump shared on Truth Social that the Chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz, thinks it’s “OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.” Fox News reported more on both of Trump’s comments regarding U.S. relations with Germany. Watch here: IT'S OFFICIAL: President Trump FIRES BACK at German Chancellor Merz by threatening to WITHDRAW a swath of US troops from the country Merz sounded off and said Trump is being "humiliated" by Iran The Chancellor is now FRANTIC, trying to soft-walk his comments and saying he… pic.twitter.com/bY5GrNvrcS — Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) April 30, 2026 In recent years, Germany’s right-wing party, the AfD, has called for U.S. troops to leave the country. Newsweek had the entire story on why the AfD wants U.S. soldiers to leave: The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has called for the U.S. to pull all of its troops from the European country after reports suggested U.S. President Donald Trump is considering withdrawing American soldiers from the country. AfD co-leader, Tino Chrupalla, told a party gathering in east Germany on Saturday that the country should chase an “independent” foreign policy, starting with the removal of American soldiers. Just under 40,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Germany, close to half the total number in Europe. The country hosts the major Ramstein air base, home to NATO’s air and space forces, vital for coordinating activities like air defense operations. German bases are also a springboard for U.S. missions in the Middle East. AfD has long called for foreign soldiers to leave Germany, and the party’s manifesto demands the withdrawal of all nuclear weapons from German soil. The U.S. keeps roughly 100 B-61 nuclear gravity bombs in bases across Europe, including in western Germany. These are tactical nuclear weapons, less destructive than the long-range missiles launched from U.S. silos, submarines and bombers that can level cities. Trump and his administration have long weighed up whether to dramatically scale back the U.S. military footprint in Europe, originally part of Washington’s pivot to the Indo-Pacific and the threat of China. Do you think that the U.S. should scale back its military presence in Germany? Let us know your thoughts below!