Why mid-decade redistricting feels so reckless and un-American | Opinion

President Donald Trump’s Aug. 1 firing of the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics wasn’t just because of a bad jobs report or downward report revisions by an appointee of his predecessor Joe Biden.

It was likely part of a broader, calculated strategy to distract from the Epstein files fallout, to undermine public trust in institutions and to feed his base another dose of “rigged system” rhetoric.

It’s classic Trump — just like his attacks on the Department of Justice, the news media and the courts.

He’s not entirely wrong. The system is rigged. Just look at redistricting.

Every map-drawing fight comes down to one corrupt reality. It’s about politicians picking their voters to protect their own power. It rigs the system before a single ballot is cast.

As a GOP strategist, I say redistricting is just another way to use the rules to a Republican advantage. It’s like Patrick Mahomes exploiting quarterback-friendly protections to rack up yards. It’s legal. It’s tactical. And yes, both parties do it.

But this current mid-decade redistricting feels a bit un-American.

From the start, our republic was built on a simple idea: Voters choose their representatives. Gerrymandering corrupts that.

It turns our government “by the people” into a rigged game where politicians draw lines to shield themselves from accountability and cling to power. No wonder Washington is so broken and hyperpartisan.

Nowhere is that more blatant than in Texas. Republicans who control 25 of the state’s 38 House seats — 66% — want to redraw the map to lock down nearly 80% of the seats. Yet fewer competitive districts fuels more political extremes, more grandstanding and zero pressure to actually govern.

And Trump’s claim that Republicans are entitled to five more seats because he “got the highest vote total” is utter nonsense.

That’s not how the Constitution works. Congress is a co-equal branch of government, not a prize awarded to the current president’s party.

Of course, I’d love to see Republicans pick up five more seats, but not by gerrymandering the country into political submission. It’s reckless, it reeks of desperation, and it’s a bailout for a party that’s in trouble.

By every historical indicator, Republicans are staring down a midterm election beating. And Trump’s sinking popularity isn’t helping. He’s bleeding support from independents, Black voters and young men. Instead of fixing the message, Republicans are trying to fix the maps.

Truth is, Republicans shouldn’t even be in this position. GOP politicians were handed a once-in-a-generation opportunity to show America what real conservative leadership looks like — and they blew it.

The Republican Congress could’ve led with bold ideas, engaged in principled debate and delivered meaningful reforms. Instead, it whined about big government while pretending to be fiscally conservative.

It grandstanded about principles, then folded when it mattered most — rubber-stamping a bloated “big, beautiful bill” and abandoning the DOGE cuts.

Congressional Republicans could have stood up for capitalism and defended free markets as the engine of American prosperity. Instead, they let Trump run wild with reckless tariffs, needless trade wars and punitive duties on steel, aluminum, and copper.

Republicans could have fulfilled their constitutional duty to check executive power. Instead, they looked the other way while Trump trampled constitutional rights, bypassed Congress and tested the limits of presidential authority.

If Republicans had led with principle, there wouldn’t be any need to redraw congressional maps. They wouldn’t be scrambling to gerrymander their way to survival. They’d be winning on the strength of their ideas.

If Republicans had governed seriously, the American people wouldn’t be bracing for chaos when Trump names the next director of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Questions about transparency, accuracy and process wouldn’t be setting off alarm bells. They’d be met with confidence that the Senate was doing its job, vetting nominees rigorously and taking governing seriously.

Hopefully, after this next month back home in their districts on a legislative recess, Republicans will realize voters are tired of the chaos, dysfunction and broken promises.

It’s time to get serious and stop the populist sideshows. It’s time to return to real conservatism: fiscal sanity, free markets, individual liberty, constitutional limits and principled leadership.

Matt Wylie is a South Carolina-based Republican political strategist and analyst with over 25 years of experience working on federal, state and local campaigns.

This story was originally published August 8, 2025 at 5:00 AM.