The Texas Senate approved a bill early on Saturday to redraw the state’s congressional maps at the behest of President Donald Trump in an effort to flip five seats held by Democrats to Republicans.
The approval comes after the state House passed it on Wednesday, US media reported. The measure goes to Governor Greg Abbott, like Trump a Republican, to be signed into law amid a nationwide redistricting battle.
State Senator Carol Alvarado, a Democrat, said on social media on Friday that she planned to delay the measure by speaking continuously about it in the legislature, a move known as a filibuster. In 2021, Alvarado delayed passage of Texas’ district map by speaking for 15 hours straight.
But a rare procedural motion by Senate Republicans just after midnight ended the debate and killed the filibuster, moving the chamber straight to the final vote, the Texas Tribune reported.
The Senate adopted the bill on a party-line vote, 18 to 11, after more than eight hours of debate, the report said.
