The Texas GOP knows the risk. In the 2010s, the Republican-controlled Legislature drew political lines that helped pad the GOP’s House majority. That lasted until 2018, when a backlash against Trump in his first term led Democrats to flip two seats in Texas that Republicans had thought safe.

The governor eventually agreed to include redistricting on his special session agenda after discussing the matter with the president on a phone call.

New congressional districts are on the agenda for the special session that began in Texas on Monday. We discuss why Texas is redrawing its congressional map now and what it and similar efforts in other states could mean for party control of Congress.