AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTYou have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.Guest EssayMay 18, 2026, 4:00 p.m. ETCredit...Illustration by The New York TimesListen · 7:25 min By Eric H. Holder Jr.Mr. Holder was attorney general of the United States from 2009 to 2015.Nearly 10 months ago, President Trump announced that he was “entitled” to five additional House seats from Texas. Thus began the redistricting crisis that has engulfed the nation. The last thing the president wants is a functioning House of Representatives that could serve as a check on his efforts to undermine our democracy and to enrich himself and his family.Last month, the Supreme Court made it easier for Republicans to skew voting maps in their favor, gutting much of what was left of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 and setting off another round of frantic redistricting that will in effect diminish Americans’ voting power and could result in many Black members of Congress losing their seats.Make no mistake: Republicans, with the aid of the court, are attacking the right to vote for all Americans, whose representatives in Congress will increasingly reflect the preferences of district line-drawers and their most partisan supporters. The next time Democrats take control of Congress and the White House, their top priority must be to rebuild and reimagine American democracy, creating a system that, more than ever before, reflects and is responsive to the will of the American people. That means banning partisan gerrymandering — and much more.The times demand a thorough response, because things that seemed inconceivable only a decade ago are now happening.Mr. Trump’s mid-decade redistricting push aims to rig the 2026 and 2028 House elections in favor of the G.O.P. The potential effects on the next House’s partisan makeup have been offset somewhat by moves in states such as California, where Democrats redrew maps to help their own candidates. Although I have fought — and will continue to fight — for reforms to end partisan gerrymandering, I could not let my enduring commitment to fairness blind me to the reality of what was unfolding. Democrats could not stand by while Republicans tried to steal the midterm election. In California, voters approved the new maps.Just as the redistricting frenzy seemed to be calming, the conservative Supreme Court majority’s Louisiana v. Callais decision spurred a shameful, but historically familiar, rush by Republican-run state capitols in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee to erase the representation and voting power of Black people.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT