Corrected: Is Trump About to Fail in His Attempt to Rig the Midterms?

Plus some thoughts on Trump's pardons, the state of media ecosystem, and how to sell tax policy.

***Apologies. Something got garbled in the editing process, and the wrong version was sent out. I can’t promise that this version is perfect, but it is better. ***

It’s time for another Mail Bag — my favorite (Message Box–related) time of the week. This might be too much information, but I sliced the tip of my finger on a carrot peeler while unloading the dishwasher, so I’m typing this with nine fingers and it’s going very slowly.

As a reminder, these will come every Saturday as a special feature for paid subscribers. Subscribe today to read these posts and ask anything you want.

Don’t forget to leave your questions for next week’s mailbag in the comments section of this post.

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Tony

With the Supreme Court allowing the Texas maps to proceed, are there any strategy updates on retaking the House in 26?

Answer

This is a very timely question. On Thursday, the Supreme Court allowed Texas to use its newly gerrymandered congressional map. A lower court had blocked the map after concluding that it intentionally diluted the voting power of Black and Latino communities — based in part on the fact that Texas Republicans openly bragged about doing exactly that.

This ruling is technically temporary since the Supreme Court still has to hear the case on the merits, but based on the language of the decision, it’s safe to assume the Court will ultimately uphold the map. So with less than a year to go, this is a good moment to take stock of the redistricting wars.

And surprisingly, the news is… not terrible.