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What's Next for Alabama's Congressional Map — and What the Supreme Court's Voting Rights Ruling Really Means

The Supreme Court dropped a major ruling Thursday — one that could have direct consequences for Alabama's political map. In a six-to-three decision, the Court struck down a majority-Black congressional district in Louisiana, ruling it was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. The case is called Louisiana v. Callais, and it significantly narrows Section Two of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 — the provision that makes it illegal for voting policies to discriminate based on race.

Now Alabama Republicans are eyeing the state's own congressional map — and they want it redrawn. The state currently has two Democrat-held congressional seats: one held by Terri Sewell of Birmingham, the state's only Black representative for thirteen years, and one held by Shomari Figures of Mobile, who won his seat in 2024 after a federal court ordered Alabama to create a second majority-Black district. Both seats are now targets for Republican redistricting.

But there's a catch — actually, several of them. Federal judges ruled after a 2023 Supreme Court case that Alabama cannot alter its congressional map before 2030, the year of the next census. And with May primaries already set, ballots printed, and absentee voting underway, changing the map for next year's election cycle would be a logistical and legal challenge. Governor Kay Ivey said Wednesday she will not call a special session unless that court restriction is lifted — though she said she hopes the new ruling gives Alabama a better shot at getting it removed.

Attorney General Steve Marshall — who is running for U.S. Senate — signaled the state will move aggressively. He said his office will act as quickly as possible to apply the ruling to Alabama's redistricting efforts, arguing the current map amounts to what he called a racial quota system the Constitution forbids. House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter and Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger echoed that sentiment, saying they intend to ensure Alabama's maps reflect the Constitution and the values of the state's voters.

On the other side, Figures and Sewell both fired back hard. Sewell — a Selma native — called the ruling a devastating blow to democracy and invoked the legacy of the Voting Rights Act's origins on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Figures called it certainly damaging to voting rights nationwide but said he's optimistic his district will remain intact through 2030 under the existing court order. He warned the ruling will spark more litigation across the country.

And then there's the Court itself. Justice Clarence Thomas — joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch — wrote separately to say he would go even further than the majority. Thomas argued Section Two of the Voting Rights Act should not apply to redistricting at all — a position he has held for more than thirty years. The majority opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, stopped short of that, but the three liberal justices in dissent warned the ruling still renders Section Two, in their words, all but a dead letter.
Trump weighing new strikes, touts ‘genius’ blockade until Iran comes to the table

WASHINGTON — President Trump is reviewing options, including renewed strikes on Iran, as negotiating progress stalls.

Trump has doubled down on his 16-day blockade of Iran’s oil exports — after rejecting an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to all shipping and set aside nuclear talks for later.

“The blockade is genius, okay? The blockade has been 100% foolproof,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday.
“Now, they have to cry uncle, that’s all they have to do,” Trump said of his time frame. “Just say, ‘We give up.'”

The US and Iran have had a cease-fire since April 8, and Trump has repeatedly threatened renewed military action without a breakthrough.
The military’s Central Command has drafted plans for “short and powerful” strikes to break through the negotiating deadlock, Axios reported Wednesday, citing three sources.

The president told the publication that for now, the blockade is “somewhat more effective than the bombing.”

The hypothetical strikes could make good on Trump’s longstanding threat to target Iran’s electricity plants and bridges.
It’s unclear when such an attack could happen. Trump has repeatedly floated the possibility of strikes to gain negotiating leverage.

Trump said his team — led by Vice President JD Vance, envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner– would no longer be traveling 18 hours to Pakistan for in-person talks with Iran. Rather, negotiations would take place “telephonically.”
“So at this moment, there will never be a deal unless they agree that there will be no nuclear weapons,” Trump said.

The renewed consideration comes as global oil prices continue to rise, with Brent crude trading near $120 per barrel on Wednesday, up from around $70 before the war started Feb. 28.
Trump posted a meme of himself holding a gun with explosions in the background Wednesday with the title “No More Mr. Nice Guy!”

“Iran can’t get their act together,” Trump captioned the image. “They don’t know how to sign a nonnuclear deal. They better get smart soon!

READ MORE : Trump weighing new strikes, touts 'genius' blockade until Iran comes to the table
House Passes Warrantless Surveillance Renewal

The House voted Wednesday to renew one of the federal government's most powerful — and most controversial — surveillance tools. The vote was 235 to 191, with members of both parties on both sides of the tally. The bill now heads to the Senate, where its path forward is uncertain.

At issue is Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act — FISA. It allows intelligence agencies to monitor foreign targets overseas without a warrant. The concern: in doing so, the government can also sweep up communications from American citizens who interact with those targets. Privacy hawks have demanded a warrant requirement before agents can search through any American's communications. Once again, they didn't get it.

The House bill extends Section 702 for three years and adds new oversight — monthly civil liberties reviews, criminal penalties for misuse, and expanded congressional access to surveillance court proceedings. Speaker Mike Johnson argued the country can't afford to let the program go dark, saying it drives two-thirds of the president's daily national security briefing. But opponents like Maryland Democrat Jamie Raskin called it a three-year permission slip for the Trump administration to spy on Americans without meaningful guardrails.

The bill also has a Senate problem. House Republicans attached a provision banning a central bank digital currency to secure votes from conservative holdouts — and Senate Majority Leader John Thune has already said that provision is dead on arrival. The Senate would need to strip it out and send the bill back before Section 702 expires this Friday. Thune has floated a sixty-day stopgap as a fallback. Whether this gets a long-term fix or another short-term patch could be decided in the next forty-eight hours.