This week marks a flashpoint in an escalating and unprecedented fight over redistricting, with the country’s two most populous states taking center stage and control of the US House during the second half of President Donald Trump’s term potentially at stake.

The Texas Senate could move the GOP’s redistricting plan forward in the next few days after the redistricting panel advanced the map on Sunday afternoon.

A second special session that has made approving the map a priority started Friday, as soon as the first one ended.

The move will allow Republicans to move forward with their plan to redraw Texas' congressional map ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Sunday afternoon, State Senators launched a public hearing on a bill to redraw congressional voting districts in Texas. The hearing, comes two days after Governor Greg Abbott called a second special session of the Texas Legislature.

Texas House Democrats announced Monday that they had returned to Austin for the next stage in a broader redistricting battle playing out across the country, saying their conditions to return to the Lone Star State had been met.

Senator John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton are vying to be the tougher candidate on Democratic lawmakers who left Texas, as potential Democratic rivals seek their own spotlight.

Texas Democrats have returned to the capitol after breaking quorum in protest of redistricting two weeks ago. They have pledged to continue to fight.

A second special session that has made approving the map a priority started Friday, shortly after the first one ended.