The Daily Signal’s Virginia Correspondent Joe Thomas is out with a new podcast breaking down Virginia Democrats’ effort to redistrict the commonwealth.  Now that Democrats are fully in control of the commonwealth, they are moving forward with a plan that could add four Democrat seats and ultimately determine the balance of power in Washington after the 2026 midterms.  Thomas called the move, which could change the Virginia congressional delegation from six Democrats and five Republicans to 10 Democrats and just one Republican “reactionary.”  The Democrat redistricting proposal would allow the Democrat-controlled government to redraw their districts if a red state decides to redistrict. “If another state changed their districts, Virginia could invoke this constitutional amendment to recreate theirs.”  ?“Now, what’s happened in Virginia is that they’ve pulled some rabbits out of the hat,” Thomas said.  “In Virginia, the law says that in order to amend the Virginia Constitution, you have to pass the amendment through both the House and Senate,” Thomas explained. The governor is not involved in that process, though Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger has said she backs the effort.  But, to amend the constitution, the Virginia legislature has to wait until after an election cycle, and the amendment “has to pass another general assembly session and then be brought to the voters,” Thomas continued.  In a special session late last year, however, “Virginia budget Speaker Don Scott used the parliamentary procedure to convene another meeting of that same special session in December to pass the constitutional amendment for a second time, just days before the culmination of Virginia’s 2025 election cycle.”  If voters approve of the proposed amendment to the constitution, it would “?overturn an election that went down 65% in favor of a non-partisan redistricting commission that each 10 years would redraw Virginia’s districts based on population shifts,” Thomas said.   The Democrats’ proposed 10-1 map look to stretch districts such as VA-1, VA-10, and VA-11.  “They’re all along what is called the Blue Crescent in Virginia, that [go] from the  Washington, D.C. suburbs all the way down to the Hampton Roads,” Thomas said of these districts.  But stretching these districts to the west and south is not without risk, Thomas claimed.  “What they’re going to do with these districts is they’re going to take these 20% and 40% Democrat districts by election results, stretch them to the point of breaking,” Thomas said. The 10-1 map would “stretch them to the point where they’re going to be right at the edge of being maybe 52%, maybe 53% Democrats by election results, historically.”  “And that’s the peril in this,” Thomas added. “They’re putting themselves in a position of taking all of those safe districts along the Blue Crescent from Northern Virginia” and “stretching them to the point of them being perilously close to a 50-50 split.”  A Republican with a good ground game in these new districts could prove redistricting was more trouble than Virginia Democrats bargained for.  The post Virginia Democrats’ Redistricting Power Grab, Explained appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Republican officials believe President Donald Trump is close to “freeing the people of Cuba,” as whistleblowers claimed the Trump administration eyes regime change in Cuba by the end of 2026. The administration has allegedly been in search of Cuban insiders who can help execute a regime change on the island, the Wall Street Journal recently reported. “All signs point to that [end to the communist regime],” Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., told The Daily Signal. “Cuba is at its lowest point in 65 years,” Gimenez, a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security and House Committee on Armed Services, continued. “Cuba is collapsing under its own incompetence, under its own weight.” “They [Cuban regime] should be sleeping with their pajamas on,” Kevin Cooper, Chairman of the largest Republican County in the country, the Miami-Dade GOP, told The Daily Signal. “It is time to bring freedom to the people of Cuba. I think it’s expected to happen at this time. People want it to happen.” The news of the potential fall of the Cuban regime comes after Operation Absolute Resolve, which captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Maduro was a key ally of the Cuban regime, and some say the operation should serve as a warning to the Cuban regime. Unlike Obama administration officials who described that overthrowing the Cuban regime was “tougher than cracking a nut,” and President Robert F. Kennedy, who failed to topple Cuba during the Bay of Pigs invasion, Republican leaders remain optimistic that Trump’s administration could finally get the job done. “President Trump is the President of peace, and if anyone can do it, it is him,” Cooper said.   Full Support from the Cuban-American Community A majority of the 2.4 million Cuban-Americans in the United States oppose the island’s communist regime and want to see an end to nearly seven decades of dictatorship. Florida state Rep. David Borrero, a prominent voice against communism, said he “absolutely supports the Trump Administration in toppling the regime, which has been accused of egregious human rights violations.” Last year, Borrero’s Victims of Communism Law, which mandates schools to teach Florida students about the horrors of communism, was signed into Florida law. Gimenez, an immigrant from Cuba, told The Daily Signal that he’s been looking forward to the fall of the Cuban regime. “I’ve been looking forward to that day for a very long time. I came over when I was seven years old. The Cuban people also look forward to that day,” Gimenez said. Cooper said for many Cuban-Americans, it’s very personal. “I’ve met people with one eye, one arm, who have spent time in Cuban gulags, and trust me, there is nothing good about communism,” Cooper said. “Those who don’t think communism kills can come to South Florida, and I’d be happy to introduce them to some people.” Could Cuba-US Relations Improve? Cuba’s regime has historically been receptive of American adversaries, such as China and Russia. A new regime in Cuba, these GOP officials claim, would be friendlier to the United States. “We can convert Cuba from an adversary to a friend of the United States, and it will happen,” Gimenez added. “This hemisphere will be a hemisphere of Democracy and of freedom, and not a hemisphere of dictators, narco-terrorists, and communist. Borrero said that Cuba “has tremendous strategic importance from the national security perspective. With Cuba being only 100 miles away from Florida, it’s a key strategic position.” “If the U.S. were to have an ally in the next leadership in Cuba, it would certainly make us safer,” Borrero added. Could Cuba Have a Bright Economic Future? The fall of the Cuban regime could have a positive impact on the U.S. and Cuban economies, these GOP officials suggest, which might serve as an incentive for Trump to act. Cuba “has tremendous potential for having a very thriving economy, and with that, by extension, trade with the United States,” Borrero said. “I’m sure the hardworking Cuban spirit would turn the country into a thriving economy again, and allow us to trade with them, and both of our countries will prosper from it.” Before communism took hold of Cuba in 1959, the island was home to a thriving economy with dominance in key agricultural industries such as sugar and coffee. In contrast, the Cuban people now earn less than eight dollars a month. “The Cuban people are some of the most entrepreneurial in terms of creativity and development. The opportunities really are endless, for both us and for them,” Cooper added. “If that were to happen, the Western Hemisphere would freely do business with each other for the first time in history.” The post Will Trump Cause the Collapse of the Cuban Regime? appeared first on The Daily Signal.

New York likely has to draw a new congressional map thanks to a Democrat-appointed judge’s ruling—drawing Democrat applause and Republican outrage over the possibility of Empire State conservatives losing representation in Washington. The ruling could spell trouble for Republican control of seven New York House seats, and be decisive in handing Democrats control of the House. On Wednesday, New York Supreme Court justice Jeffrey Pearlman ordered the state’s Independent Redistricting Commission to redraw its U.S. House districts due to “Black and Latino votes… being diluted” in the state’s Republican 11th Congressional District, represented by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis.  New York’s constitution requires that district boundaries not dilute the votes of “racial or minority language groups,” and details a process for petitioners to request a redrawing of the state’s congressional map. The Case Pearlman, an appointee of Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul who was her chief of staff when she was lieutenant governor, cites “racial appeals in Staten Island politics” as being “meaningful” for the question of whether the district’s boundaries dilute minority votes.  Pearlman also cites the fact that “minority-preferred candidates ‘usually’ lose” as evidence of “racially polarized voting” in the district, one of his justifications for ordering a new map. The case’s petitioners are all New York electors. Pearlman also cites expert witness Dr. Thomas J. Sugrue’s testimony claiming Staten Island “has a long history of racial segregation, discrimination, and disparate treatment against Blacks and Latinos.” Pearlman writes in his ruling that “time is of the essence to fix congressional lines in this case,” and that the redistricting commission must redraw lines by Feb. 6. The voters of New York deserve the fairest congressional map possible. pic.twitter.com/mvMMc9rmuA— Hakeem Jeffries (@hakeemjeffries) January 22, 2026 House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., was quick to applaud the ruling, calling it “the first step toward ensuring communities of interest remain intact from Staten Island to Lower Manhattan” on Wednesday. Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., who represents much of the Bronx, told The Daily Signal on Thursday that he was generally supportive of redrawing maps. “If there’s a congressional district that violates civil rights law, or either the federal or the state constitution, then, yes, it should be redrawn in accordance with our laws,” said Torres. Republican Backlash But Republicans denounced the ruling as a Democrat attempt to seize control of a House seat. “Democrats can’t beat me on merit, policy and debate. So what do they do? They file a meritless lawsuit claiming our district disenfranchises minorities to take out the first minority to represent the district and steal our seat,” Malliotakis, who is of Cuban descent, wrote on X. Malliotakis vowed to “use every legal option at our disposal, including an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court” to counter the decision. Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., who represents the lower Hudson Valley, also denounced the decision when speaking to The Daily Signal on Thursday. “I think what you’ve seen is Hakeem Jeffries and Kathy Hochul have corrupted the New York court system for political purposes. This is the third attempt at redistricting in New York because they don’t want free and fair elections,” Lawler said. Lawler added, “They don’t want competitive congressional seats. They want it handed to them. They claim in this lawsuit that Hispanic voters are disenfranchised, yet Nicole Malliotakis is Cuban. So it’s not about disenfranchising voters, it’s about the fact that she’s a Republican and not a Democrat.” What an absolute disgrace. The effort by Hakeem Jeffries and Kathy Hochul to once again gerrymander New York’s maps is an affront to the voters who very clearly wanted independent redistricting and opposed partisan gerrymandering. This should be taken to federal court immediately… https://t.co/Vi2mx0VPE3— Mike Lawler (@lawler4ny) January 21, 2026 Lawler called for the decision to be reversed. “This decision reeks of politics,” he told The Daily Signal. “It should be overturned at the appellate division. And as far as I’m concerned, it should be elevated to federal court.” At a Thursday press conference, Jeffries provided The Daily Signal response to Lawler’s remarks of him corrupting the New York courts, sarcastically quipping, “I didn’t know I had that much power.” Hochul’s office did not immediately respond to a request for a response to Lawler. The National Democrat Redistricting Push But Jeffries also told The Daily Signal he welcomes a new map shifting representation in Democrats favor, saying, “what you should continue to expect is that Democrats are going to fight for a fair national congressional map.” “Republicans started this gerrymandering fight. Democrats are going to end it,” Jeffries continued. “I’m looking forward to my meeting later on today with Gov. Wes Moore [of Maryland]. The people of Virginia are going to have an opportunity to vote on a fair map in the Commonwealth in the next few months.” We can do this also- let’s go Virginia!! 10-1 https://t.co/26OFamrSqh— L. Louise Lucas (@SenLouiseLucas) January 21, 2026 In Maryland, a commission assembled by Moore has drafted a map to boot the state’s sole Republican Rep. Andy Harris from Congress. Maryland redistricting efforts have been repeatedly stymied by court rulings. In Virginia, Senate president pro tempore Louise Lucas has also repeatedly called for redistricting to reduce the state’s Republican U.S. House delegation from five members to one. Democrat redistricting efforts pose a grave threat to Republicans, since an Indiana pro-Republican redistricting attempt failed in December, and Kansas’ state House Republican leaders have indicated redistricting may not be politically feasible. The post New York Judge Orders Redrawn House Map, Dems Applaud appeared first on The Daily Signal.

DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—Virginia Democrats have proposed a bill to permanently embed and test “inclusive history,” including racial and LGBTQ+ topics, in children’s classrooms across the state. The state House bill was introduced on Jan. 13 and would require all public elementary and secondary schools to adjust history and social science classes to include “the contributions, perspectives, and experiences of historically marginalized communities, including racial and ethnic minorities; immigrants and refugees; women; individuals with disabilities; individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+),” and others. The bill states this is necessary “in order to affirm such communities and promote a more holistic understanding of history” and “to ensure comprehensive, accurate, and inclusive education.” If enacted, Virginia’s Board of Education must “adopt and enforce policies” requiring schools in the state to adopt textbooks and instructional materials that include “comprehensive, accurate, and affirming coverage of the histories and contributions of the communities” listed. The board must also consult with “subject matter experts who represent marginalized communities” regularly. The state Department of Education also “shall develop, curate, or identify supplemental instructional resources that support the teaching of inclusive history,” including “materials for observances such as Black History Month, Women’s History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Disability History and Awareness Month, LGBTQ+ History Month, and other recognitions as determined by the Board.” It is suggested the department “partner with cultural institutions, historical societies, and community organizations to develop or curate these materials.” State education standards would be updated as soon as March 1, 2027 “to explicitly include the political, economic, social, and cultural contributions of the communities described,” the bill states. The “inclusive history” resources created by the education department should be fully integrated “across curricula” and must not be isolated “to a single month or observance.” Teachers will then be equipped with “culturally responsive strategies for teaching inclusive history and for addressing complex or difficult historical topics” as part of their required professional development credit, the bill says. State assessments by the 2028–2029 school year must then include questions relating to the inclusive history lessons, including about the “contributions and experiences of the communities” listed. Virginia Democrats immediately began flooding the legislature with bill proposals as soon as Democrat Gov. Abigail Spanberger was sworn in on Jan. 17. Some of their suggestions include reducing the severity of some robbery offenses and increasing parole eligibility, removing mandatory minimum sentences for rape and the production and distribution of child porn, and banning ballots from being counted by hand if they are readable by a machine. The governor has also rescinded an order requiring state law enforcement to comply with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Originally published by Daily Caller News Foundation. The post Virginia Democrats Move to Embed ‘Transgender and Queer’ History Across Kids’ Curriculum appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Lawmakers grilled former special counsel Jack Smith on Thursday for scooping up phone records of members of Congress while concealing his targets from a judge. Smith testified publicly before the House Judiciary Committee after giving a private deposition last month regarding his nearly two-year probe of then-former President Donald Trump. Smith’s investigation focused on alleged possession of classified documents after leaving office, and Trump’s alleged lying about the 2020 election. He secured indictments in both investigations. As part of the probe, Smith approved subpoenas for phone communications of members of Congress. His team subpoenaed the phone records of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.; House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio; and eight Republican senators.  Smith said his staff prosecutors didn’t tell judges signing the subpoenas that the special counsel’s office was seeking records from members of Congress. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., the committee’s senior member, said Smith violated the separation of powers in acting as a member of the executive branch to obtain phone records from the legislative branch while withholding information from the judicial branch. “You, like the president’s men for Richard Nixon, went after your political enemies,” Issa said to Smith. Issa had a board behind him listing the members of Congress whose records were subpoenaed that read, “Biden’s enemies list.”  “They’re not your political enemies, but they sure as hell were Joe Biden’s political enemies, weren’t they? They were Harris’ political enemies. They were the enemies of the president, and you were their arm.” Ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., interrupted Issa. After a heated exchange, Smith acknowledged not revealing the members’ names to the judge, but added that he was not required to do so. “We did not provide that information to the judge when we requested a non-disclosure order consistent with the law and consistent with department,” Smith replied.  Smith’s targets also included eight Republican senators: Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Bill Hagerty and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming. Raskin pushed back on GOP criticism of Smith’s subpoena of congressional phone records. “So, it’s perfectly lawful what you did. Explain why you wanted those toll records?” Raskin asked Smith.  “We wanted to conduct a thorough investigation of the matters that were assigned to me, including the attempts to interfere with the lawful transfer of power,” Smith said. “For the conspiracy that we were investigating, it was relevant to get full records to understand the scope of that conspiracy.” Raskin followed, “That’s normal investigative practice, right?” Smith said, “In conducting a criminal investigation, securing non-content toll records, as you described, is a common practice in almost any complex concern.” Smith was named special counsel in November 2022 to conduct the Justice Department’s investigation of Trump’s challenge to the outcome of the 2020 election, as well as allegations of mishandling of classified information after leaving office.  The post Jack Smith Forced to Explain ‘Enemies List’ of Congressional Phone Records appeared first on The Daily Signal.