Democratic leaders convened a special session of the Virginia legislature on Monday to consider redrawing congressional electoral maps in their party's favor, while Indiana's Republican governor summoned lawmakers to weigh a similar plan next week at the behest of President Donald Trump. Virginia and Indiana were poised to become the latest battlegrounds in a mid-decade redistricting war, instigated by Trump, that could play a pivotal role in the outcome of next year's congressional elections.

Virginia Democrats are launching an effort to redraw the state’s congressional districts, positioning themselves in direct response to Republican-led redistricting maneuvers in states like Texas and North Carolina. Speaker of the House of Delegates Don Scott announced that lawmakers will convene a special session in Richmond on Monday to begin discussions on the proposed changes to the state’s congressional map. Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell told The New York Times, which first reported the story, “We are coming back to address actions by the Trump administration.”

Democratic lawmakers launched an extraordinary special session of the Virginia General Assembly on Monday to consider a constitutional amendment to redraw the state’s congressional districts, leaving Republicans howling with protest but unable to stop — or, in some cases, understand — what was happening. Leaders said the move is a blue-state counterpunch to President Donald Trump’s push to create more Republican districts in red states before next year’s midterm elections to help the GOP hold onto its slim U.S. House majority.

Americans saw their cost of living spike while the Biden administration indulged in profligate spending and ran up massive budget deficits, but that’s finally starting to change. The latest data from the U.S. Treasury show that President Trump and Treasury Secretary Bessent are reining in the runaway federal budget, bringing relief to federal and family finances.

Praise, Nobel nominations and promises of foreign investment in the US - Japan's newly-elected Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi rolled out the red carpet for Donald Trump on Tuesday. Trump in turn had warm praise for Takaichi, telling her that the US would be there for "anything you want, any favours you need, anything… to help Japan".

Republicans appear to have all but abandoned their efforts to defeat a Democratic gerrymander of California’s House districts one week before it goes before voters. As Democrats pummel the state with Yes on 50 advertising, the Republican side of the battle has gone quiet. Major GOP donors and party leaders have effectively vanished from the front lines.

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., is demanding the Department of Justice (DOJ) conduct a "comprehensive" investigation into former President Joe Biden’s autopen use. The committee’s GOP majority released a 100-page report on Tuesday morning detailing findings from its monthslong probe into Biden’s White House, specifically whether his inner circle covered up signs of mental decline in the ex-president, and if that alleged cover-up extended to executive actions signed via autopen without Biden’s full awareness.

U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday in Busan, South Korea, for a long-anticipated dialogue. The summit—Trump’s first with Xi since beginning his second term in January—is set to take place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum and follows a weekend of trade negotiations in Malaysia, with both sides expressing optimism about a shared framework.

When China’s leader, Xi Jinping, sits down with President Trump to address their worsening trade tensions, he will also be pursuing another, longer goal: persuading the American president to soften U.S. support for Taiwan. Mr. Trump has said that he wants to focus on trade when he meets Mr. Xi in South Korea, even if the Chinese leader presses him on Taiwan, the democratically governed island roughly 100 miles off China’s coast that Beijing claims as its own.