Sen. Raphael Warnock: Supreme Court "poured fuel on this redistricting arms race"

Washington — Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia called the Supreme Court's decision past week to onslaught down Louisiana's legislature representation and constrictive the Voting Rights Act "a monolithic and devastating blow," portion informing of its implications for the redistricting fight. 

"The court, sadly, poured substance connected this redistricting arms race," Warnock said Sunday connected "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan." 

The ruling was a cardinal triumph for Republicans, striking down a representation that included 2 majority-Black districts. And it followed a redistricting conflict that began past twelvemonth erstwhile President Trump's governmental squad pushed Texas GOP leaders to redraw the state's legislature map, which sparked a counterpush by Democrats successful California and efforts by some parties successful different states to redraw their maps.

Warnock, a pastor who's represented Georgia successful the Senate since 2021, said helium supports the propulsion by Democrats connected redistricting "because Donald Trump — who is amended astatine dividing america than anybody I cognize — instituted an arms contention successful redistricting."

"I don't similar gerrymandering, but we could not unilaterally disarm," Warnock said. "He's the 1 who called Texas and said, literally, 'give maine six much seats.' And truthful California and different states had to respond, Virginia, successful kind." 

But Warnock said "the solution to this truly is to prohibition partisan gerrymandering," which helium said "turns our elections connected its head, truthful that alternatively than the radical picking their politicians oregon their nationalist servants, the politicians are picking their voters."

The precocious court's determination narrowed the landmark Voting Rights Act, with the court's blimpish bulk uncovering that compliance with Section 2 could not warrant the state's usage of contention successful redrawing its House territory lines. The result is expected to marque it much hard for number voters and voting rights groups to successfully situation voting maps nether Section 2, with implications acold beyond governmental practice successful Louisiana. 

Since the Supreme Court's decision, Republican governors successful a fistful of states, including Louisiana and Tennessee, person called for peculiar sessions of the authorities legislature oregon different expressed involvement successful redrawing legislature maps. 

Warnock said "what happened this week is thing little than a monolithic and devastating blow, not lone to our democracy, but peculiarly to radical of colour successful the South."

"We volition spot a devastating interaction arsenic a effect of this, and now, much than ever, we've got to basal up and combat for our democracy," helium said. 

On the Voting Rights Act and the instrumentality much broadly, Warnock said "I cognize that determination are those who are bushed of the remedy — I'm bushed of racism."

"I deliberation it's a unusual presumption to beryllium much acrophobic astir the medicine than you are astir the malady," Warnock said. 

The Georgia Democrat pointed to changes to the Voting Rights Act successful caller decades, including erstwhile the precocious tribunal successful 2013 struck down a look for states to get preclearance from the national authorities earlier instituting voting process changes nether Section 5. He said "since they removed the protections of Section Five, states that utilized to play aged games, they're playing caller games." 

"They're 21st Century Jim Crow tactics successful caller apparel — moving elector polls, closing polls successful Black and brownish communities," Warnock said. "And now, arsenic a effect of the determination this week, they're saying that adjacent erstwhile you amusement up, we person fixed the greenish airy truthful that politicians tin play games with the lines, truthful that adjacent erstwhile you flooded those barriers to amusement up, your voices volition beryllium muted."

On the question of representation, Warnock said the thought that it doesn't substance "ignores history, it ignores the facts — it's uninformed."

"When I spell to the Senate, each week, I bring my communicative and my acquisition arsenic a Black kid who grew up successful nationalist lodging successful Savannah, and truthful does that White kid who grew up successful Appalachia," helium said. "And truthful when, erstwhile we make an expanding monolith, which is what I deliberation is going to hap arsenic a effect of this determination this week, we wounded the ideology itself, and we marque it harder to get astatine a policy, policies that clasp each of our children and springiness each kid a chance."