Texas lawmakers on Wednesday passed a new congressional district map intended to flip five Democratic-held US House seats to Republican control in next year’s midterm elections, a key step in an increasingly acrimonious partisan battle as California Democrats lined up their own redistricting effort.

Democratic leaders say they will return for a second special legislative session after seeing California Democratic leaders proceed with plans to redraw their own US House maps to neutralize Republican gains in Texas.

Texas Republicans mandated that Democratic lawmakers not be allowed to leave the state house without a permission slip and a police escort.

Democratic Texas state Rep. Nicole Collier spent the night on the Texas House floor in protest after refusing a Republican demand to be placed under the watch of the state Department of Public Safety.

President Donald Trump has taken aim at MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace in a bizarre social media rant. The drama started when 79-year-old Trump kicked off his Sunday morning with a cryptic post on Truth Social. “Bela,” he wrote, leaving his followers to debate the meaning of the word.

Texas state Rep. Nicole Collier was told she was not free to leave the building after refusing to sign a permission slip requiring a 24-hour police escort.

A Democratic Texas lawmaker has chosen to spend the night in the state House chamber to avoid being shadowed by law enforcement