Schumer Condemns 'Awful' SCOTUS Ruling

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is accusing the Supreme Court of weakening American democracy with what he labeled an "awful decision" on Louisiana's congressional map. In a 6-3 ruling, the court said efforts to draw majority-minority districts can cross into unconstitutional racial gerrymandering, a move that could trigger the redrawing of Black- and Latino-majority districts nationwide and further narrow the reach of the Voting Rights Act. Schumer said Democrats will push to overturn the ruling, warning it will mean "fewer protections for voters" and "more power for politicians" to shape maps that sideline historically marginalized communities, the Hill reports.

On the Senate floor, Schumer argued the decision could help conservative legislatures craft as many as 19 new GOP-leaning House seats. "This MAGA court is trying to give Republicans a leg up, an illegitimate leg up in future elections," he said. The ruling leaves in place a lower court decision blocking Louisiana from using a map with two majority-Black districts. Other Democrats, including Sen. Mark Warner, pointed to the outcome as fresh evidence Congress needs to pass stalled voting-rights bills, including the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act.

• NAACP President Derrick Johnson also blasted the ruling, calling it a "devastating blow to what remains of the Voting Rights Act," the Washington Post reports. "The Supreme Court betrayed Black voters, they betrayed America, and they betrayed our democracy," he said. "This ruling is a major setback for our nation and threatens to erode the hard-won victories we've fought, bled, and died for."

Within hours of the decision, Republican officials and candidates in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, and South Carolina called for special sessions to redraw state voting maps, Politico reports. The White House praised the ruling, the Post reports. "This is a complete and total victory for American voters," spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said. "The color of one's skin should not dictate which congressional district you belong in." In a post on Truth Social, President Trump said it was "a BIG WIN for Equal Protection under the Law, as it returns the Voting Rights Act to its Original Intent, which was to protect against intentional Racial Discrimination."