Gerrymandering & Scandals

Fights over congressional maps and congressional ethics are colliding again as the 2026 House campaign starts, with Texas map litigation and new House investigations moving at the same time. (supremecourt.gov) On December 4, 2025, the Supreme Court stayed a lower-court order that had blocked Texas’s new congressional map, saying Texas was likely to succeed and allowing the 2026 election to proceed under that map while the case continues. (supremecourt.gov) The court said Texas redrew first, California answered with its own map “for the stated purpose of counteracting” Texas, and North Carolina followed, describing a multi-state mid-decade remap tied directly to the 2026 midterms. (supremecourt.gov) Gerrymandering is the practice of drawing district lines to help one party or group win more seats than its vote share would normally produce. Brennan Center data updated December 17, 2025 counted 100 post-2020 census map cases in 30 states, including 62 involving congressional maps. (brennancenter.org) That litigation has been concentrated in states where one party controlled the process. The Brennan Center said 82 of the 100 cases challenged maps drawn under single-party control, including 65 cases targeting Republican-drawn maps and 17 targeting Democratic-drawn maps. (brennancenter.org) The same group estimated in September 2024 that existing congressional maps gave Republicans an advantage of about 16 House seats compared with non-gerrymandered maps, with the biggest edge in Southern and Midwestern states. (brennancenter.org) At the Capitol, the House’s ethics machinery has also stayed active into 2026. The House Committee on Ethics archive shows public statements this month on Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Rep. Eric Swalwell and workplace-rights issues, while the Office of Congressional Conduct lists referrals involving Nancy Mace, Michael Collins and others. (ethics.house.gov) (conduct.house.gov) The most detailed current House case is against Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida. An Ethics Committee investigative subcommittee said on December 16, 2025 that it had reviewed more than 33,000 documents, issued 59 subpoenas and found “substantial reason to believe” violations occurred. (ethics.house.gov) That filing said Cherfilus-McCormick and alleged co-conspirators were indicted on November 19, 2025 on charges that included stealing federal disaster funds, laundering proceeds and using money to support her 2021 campaign. The committee document also said she invoked her Fifth Amendment right after receiving subpoenas for documents and testimony. (ethics.house.gov) Map fights and ethics cases are separate legal tracks, but both shape control of Congress before a single general-election vote is cast: one by deciding which voters are grouped together, the other by testing whether sitting members can survive investigations and keep political support. (supremecourt.gov) (ethics.house.gov)