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Democrats hail Virginia’s redistricting plan and warn Republicans’ plan to redraw Florida could backfire – live | US politics
Jeffries: ‘We will not let Trump rig the midterm elections’
Chris Stein
Top House Democrats were in a triumphant mood at a press conference held after Virginia voters last night approved new maps that could help Democrats win all but one of the state’s seats in the House of Representatives.
“We will not let Donald Trump rig the midterm elections by gerrymandering maps all across the country without a forceful Democratic response. That is what you saw in Virginia,” the Democratic House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, said.
The chair of the House Democrats’ campaign arm, Suzan DelBene, said: “We have held back a Republican power grab and leveled the playing field in the fight for the majority in the people’s house. Last night’s results are what happens when voters decide, and it’s as simple as that.”
Key events
Chris Stein
Triumphant though they may be, there’s still the question of what House Democrats’s recent embrace of retaliatory gerrymandering to offset Republican efforts elsewhere means for the party’s previous support for legislation to abolish partisan gerrymandering.
“We’ve continued to stand behind our prior efforts to establish one national standard that would prohibit mid decade partisan gerrymandering all across the country,” the House Democratic majority leader Hakeem Jeffries replied when a reporter asked him about the party’s inconsistency on the issue. “But what we’re not going to do is unilaterally disarm.”
In recent congresses, Democrats have introduced the For the People Act, a comprehensive reform legislation addressing democracy issues that would require states to create independent conditions to draw maps.
Democrats passed the legislation through the House in 2021, during Joe Biden’s presidency, but it lacked the votes to advance through the Senate.
Jeffries: ‘We will not let Trump rig the midterm elections’
Chris Stein
Top House Democrats were in a triumphant mood at a press conference held after Virginia voters last night approved new maps that could help Democrats win all but one of the state’s seats in the House of Representatives.
“We will not let Donald Trump rig the midterm elections by gerrymandering maps all across the country without a forceful Democratic response. That is what you saw in Virginia,” the Democratic House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, said.
The chair of the House Democrats’ campaign arm, Suzan DelBene, said: “We have held back a Republican power grab and leveled the playing field in the fight for the majority in the people’s house. Last night’s results are what happens when voters decide, and it’s as simple as that.”
Bessent says that gas prices could be ‘lower’ than prior to Iran war after conflict ends
At a Senate appropriation subcommittee hearing today, the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, told lawmakers that he anticipates gas prices to plummet as soon as the war in Iran ends.
Bessent added that fuel costs could be “perhaps lower” than before the conflict began. Currently, the average price for a gallon of gasoline in the US is more than $4, up from $2.98 in late February, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).
Per my earlier post, the supreme court did not issue any opinions in the key cases we were watching. It’s not immediately clear when the court will next hand down decisions.
Edward Helmore
A trio of political polls indicate public approval of Donald Trump’s management of the US economy, immigration and the Iran conflict is slipping, flashing warning lights for Trump-aligned Republican candidates with six months to go until the US midterm elections.
Polls by Reuters-Ipsos poll, Strength in Numbers-Verasight and AP-NORC had the president’s approval rating hovering in the mid-30s, at 36%, 35% and 33% respectively, which are near his lowest numbers.
The AP-NORC center for public affairs research poll published on Monday found that 7 in 10 Americans described the economy as poor and think the country is headed in the wrong direction.
The poll showed that Trump’s handling of the economy has fallen to 30% approval, down from 38% in March, while 72% said the country is headed in the wrong direction, a figure unchanged since February. Just 23% approve of how he is handling the cost of living, while 76% disapprove.
Marjorie Taylor Greene warns Virginia redistricting win will bring ‘devastating consequences’ ahead of midterms
Former GOP congresswoman and Trump loyalist Marjorie Taylor Greene warned that Virginia’s redistricting victory –where voters approved new congressional maps intended to boost Democrats’ chances of retaking the US House – was an example of the “devastating consequences” to come for Republicans in the upcoming midterms.
The former representative said a “revolt on the right” and a “mass exodus of America First Trump voters” will be down to president launching the war with Iran, the hike in gas prices as a result of the conflict, and Trump’s reticence to release the complete Epstein files.
Also today, we can expect the Senate to vote on another war powers resolution, to curb the Trump administration’s war in Iran.
Led by Senator Tammy Baldwin, a Wisconsin Democrat, this will be upper chamber Democrats’ fifth attempt to pass a resolution.
Democrats have vowed to keep bringing the motions to the floor each week the war in Iran continues to put “Republicans on record”.
Supreme court poised to issue opinions
The supreme court will hand down opinions at 10am ET today. Here’s a reminder of the major cases we’re tracking closely.
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Louisiana v Callais: A high-stakes voting rights case in which the court’s conservative majority appears poised to gut one of the most powerful provisions of the Voting Rights Act.
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Trump v Cook: Donald Trump’s case for firing Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, as he continues to exert greater control over the US central bank.
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Trump v Slaughter: A case which examines the legality of Trump’s firing of a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) member, Rebecca Slaughter.
A reminder that my colleagues are covering the latest developments out of the Middle East at our dedicated live blog. Following Trump’s announcement that he will extend the ceasefire with Iran as negotiations on a peace deal remain elusive, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it seized two ships in the strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian media. Despite the ceasefire, the US blockade of all Iranian ports in the vital waterway continues.
Donald Trump is in Washington today. He’ll spend most of the day in meetings, but he’ll welcome the Social Security Administration commissioner, Frank Bisignano to the White House at 10am ET. Currently that’s closed to the press but we’ll let you know if anything changes.
Treasury secretary Scott Bessent among those due to testify at hearings today
There are a number of congressional hearings coming up later, with treasury secretary Scott Bessent testifying before Senate Appropriations at 10am ET.
Energy secretary Chris Wright will follow at 2.30pm ET, with both men expected to be questioned by Democratic lawmakers on how Donald Trump’s war in Iran has sent gas prices soaring.
Other appearances today include commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, health and human services secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, interior secretary Doug Burgum and agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins.
California’s race for governor will get its first marquee moment since one-time frontrunner Eric Swalwell abruptly exited the contest, with six candidates set to debate on Wednesday.
Four Democrats and two Republicans will take the stage together starting at 7pm PDT. The top two will advance on 2 June to the runoff in November, even if they are from the same party.
Nexstar Media Group will broadcast the debate in six of the state’s largest markets, giving this debate a wider audience than the first televised debate, which aired on two Fox stations in February.
In the poll that determined debate eligibility, Republican and former Fox News host Steve Hilton led the entire field with 17%. Fellow Republican and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco tied for second with 14%. Meanwhile, 23% of those polled were undecided.
David Smith
He can’t live with him and can’t live without him. But, finally, the conservative podcaster Tucker Carlson seems to have made up his mind about Donald Trump. Their up-and-down marriage of political convenience is heading for the divorce court.
On Tuesday Carlson admitted that he will be “tormented” for a long time by his support for Trump in the 2024 US presidential election “and I want to say I’m sorry for misleading people”. What he did not say is whether this presages his own run for president in 2028.
The breaking point was the war in Iran, a betrayal of Trump’s promise to end US foreign entanglements, and the perceived influence of Israel, which has become a Carlson obsession.
It was the latest – and perhaps final – twist in a long and tortured relationship. Back in 1999, when Trump was potentially running for president on a Reform party ticket, Carlson said he was “the single most repulsive person on the planet”. In 2016, he reportedly told an acquaintance that the Republican frontrunner was “not evil” but “mentally ill”.
Maya Yang
Nearly half of children in the United States are breathing dangerous levels of air pollution, according to a new report, as experts warned Donald Trump’s expansive rollback of protections will make the situation worse.
The 27th annual air quality report from the American Lung Association (ALA) released on Wednesday evaluates pollution across the country by grading levels of ground-level ozone – also known as smog – as well as year-round and short-term spikes in particle pollution, commonly referred to as soot. The report analyzed quality-assured data collected between 2022 and 2024.
It found that 33.5 million children in the US – 46% of those under 18 – live in areas that received a failing grade for at least one measure of air pollution.
The report also found that 7 million children, or 10% of all children in the US, live in communities that failed all three measures.
Speaking to the Guardian, Will Barrett, assistant vice-president of the ALA’s Nationwide Clean Air Policy, said: “Children’s lungs are still developing. For their body size, they’re breathing more air. And also, kids play outdoors, they’re more active, they’re breathing in more outdoor air … So, air pollution exposure in children can contribute to long-term developmental harm to their lungs, new cases of asthma, increased risks of respiratory illness and other health considerations later in life.”
Chris Stein
Polls showed a close race in the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s vote, with signs that right-leaning voters in Virginia’s rural areas were incensed by new maps that would see many of them represented by lawmakers who live in the state’s northern suburbs outside Washington DC.
The surveys also showed that voters were divided on Spanberger’s performance as governor, with Republicans accusing her of lying about her moderate credentials on the campaign trail then quickly pivoting left as governor, including by supporting the referendum.
The race saw heavy spending by Democratic-linked groups and others, who poured more than $64m into the main committee backing the referendum. Groups opposing redistricting brought in around $30m.
Barack Obama recorded television ads in favor of the yes vote, while those opposed aired their own ads focused on past comments he had made criticizing gerrymandering. Glenn Youngkin, the Republican who preceded Spanberger as governor, campaigned heavily for the no vote.
Obama celebrated the result on Tuesday evening.
“Congratulations, Virginia!” the former US president posted on social media. “Republicans are trying to tilt the midterm elections in their favor, but they haven’t done it yet. Thanks for showing us what it looks like to stand up for our democracy and fight back.”
Top House Democrat tells Florida’s Ron DeSantis his redistricting plans could backfire on Republicans
Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.
The vote to approve new congressional maps in Virgina puts pressure on Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who has called a special session next month to consider tit-for-tat changes to its own map. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries warned any such effort could backfire on Republicans.
Voters in Virginia on Tuesday approved new congressional maps intended to boost Democrats’ chances of retaking the House of Representatives, in the latest blow to Donald Trump’s effort to use mid-decade redistricting to preserve his control of Congress.
Florida could now consider changes to its own congressional maps with the aim of picking up as many as three more GOP seats – depending on how the legislature draws the boundaries.
But Jeffries, the House minority leader, said Tuesday’s result in Virginia should serve as a warning to DeSantis. He wrote in a statement:
If Florida Republicans proceed with this illegal scheme, they will only create more prime-pick up opportunities for Democrats.
We are prepared to take them all on, and we are prepared to win.
There is concern how a redrawn Florida map could play out, Politico reports. Democrats recently managed to flip a seat in the Florida state house in the district that is home to Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago.
The tit-for-tat redistricting battle began last year after Trump pressed Texas’s Republican-controlled legislature to redraw that state’s congressional maps in a bid to oust as many as five Democratic House lawmakers in the November midterm elections.
California voters retaliated by approving new maps that could flip five Republican-held seats, and in Virginia, Abigail Spanberger, the newly elected Democratic governor, backed an effort to redraw her state’s maps following her January inauguration. Tuesday’s referendum could help Democrats win four additional House seats in November’s midterm elections.
Under the new maps, Democrats are now favored to win in 10 of Virginia’s 11 districts. In the current delegation, Democrats hold six seats and Republicans five.
Read the full story here:
In other developments:
The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.
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Key events
In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.
Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.
“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “
News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.
“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.
Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.
The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.
The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.
An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.
In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.
For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:
“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.
“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”
Saturday’s match reports here.
The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.
“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against Cape Verde.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.
“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.
“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.
“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”
The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”
Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.
The teams – Lamine Yamal starts
Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?
Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.
Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat
The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.
The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.
Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.
“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.
Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.
Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.
A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.
Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP
Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?
Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.
Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.
“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”
A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.
“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”
We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.
The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.
Preamble
Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.
Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.
A topless man can be seen driving erratically in Edinburgh before abandoning his car and attacking a black man and a delivery rider.
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