Republicans came one step closer yesterday in keeping their majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. Yesterday evening, by a vote of 6-to-3, the Indiana State Senate Elections Committee advanced a redistricting bill that could give the GOP two more House seats from the Hoosier State. Indiana currently has nine people in its House delegation, seven Republicans and two Democrats.
Only one Republican lawmaker, state Sen. Greg Walker, ended up opposing the bill in the committee vote. The legislation now moves to a second reading where there will be an opportunity to propose amendments, including ones that will likely be designed to kill the bill.
The vote was a resounding victory for the Trump administration, which had taken to interfacing with state lawmakers who were on the fence about supporting the legislation. They have been joined in their efforts by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., who has held the speaker’s gavel in the House since 2023. Indiana is one of several states that is considering redistricting as red and blue states attempt to counteract each other’s gerrymandering.
Republicans have fretted that if Democrats take back control over the lower chamber of Congress, then the final two years of President Donald Trump’s term will be plagued by investigations and potentially even another impeachment. Such a political situation would also severely restrict attempts by the GOP to pass conservative legislation.
Heritage Action State Advocacy Manager Paul Lagemann emphasized the political pressure Democrats were asserting on the legislative process, including during the period of witness testimony yesterday.
“One of the more unsettling situations was that protesters from the other side, most likely paid, and probably not from Indiana, blocked the sign up to allow people to sign up to speak,” Lagemann said.
“We know at least one of our [Heritage Action] sentinels that was barred from speaking because these protesters wouldn’t get out of the way,” Lagemann continued. He added that he anticipated more protesting as the bill continues through the state Senate.
“Much like Congress, there’ll be disruptions from the gallery. I think there’ll be hecklers in the hallways. It’s going to be a mess,” he explained. Lagemann compared the political protesting yesterday to the kind seen when right-to-work legislation was being passed about a decade ago.
On Thursday, the state Senate will reconvene to consider the redistricting legislation. Lagemann told The Daily Signal that he did not think there would be enough votes to pass a poison pill amendment to kill the bill.
For his part, Republican Indiana Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray has articulated for some time that his chamber does not have enough votes to pass the redistricting legislation. He appeared less sure on Monday.
“We’ll all find out on Thursday,” Bray said.
