The Texas Senate began its session Friday morning debating a controversial GOP redistricting bill that triggered a weeks-long House standoff.

The Republican-backed proposal, which passed the House in an 88-52 party-line vote on Wednesday, aims to redraw the state's congressional map and produce five new GOP-leaning districts.

The Texas Senate Committee on Redistricting advanced the bill Thursday with a vote along party lines.

It's unclear whether the Democrats in the Texas Senate will try to delay the vote by breaking quorum themselves. When a similar redistricting bill passed the Senate during the first special session, all but two Democrats walked out of the chamber in protest. If all 11 Democrats are absent, Republicans would be one senator shy of a quorum.

Once approved by the Republican majority in the full Senate, the bill will head to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk for his signature. 

Democrats have vowed to challenge the legality of the new map in court, arguing it undermines fair representation and dilutes minority voting power.

California launches counter-redistricting plan

The Texas redistricting plan has sparked a nationwide fight over political boundaries.

Earlier this year, President Trump asked Abbott to call a special session so lawmakers could create additional Republican districts, the New York Times reported. The unusual mid-decade redistricting was meant to help the GOP retain its narrow majority in the House of Representatives after the 2026 midterm elections. 

The president's party almost always loses seats in Congress in the midterms, according to historical data. Democrats gained 41 House seats and the majority in 2018, Mr. Trump's first term, and Republicans picked up 9 seats to claim the majority in 2022, during President Biden's term.

Texas House Democrats fled the state for two weeks do deny a mandatory quorum in the House, killing the the first special session and visiting blue states to drum up support. They returned earlier this week, allowing the votes to proceed.

During that time, California Gov. Gavin Newsom joined the fight, introducing a new congressional map to flip five of California's seats from Republican to Democratic. Voters will need to approve the plan in a special election called for the fall.

Newsom said the move was necessary to "fight fire with fire" and prevent what he called a Trump-backed attempt to rig the 2026 midterm elections.