Texas House Democrats who fled the state to stall a Republican redistricting plan have signaled they’re ready to return to the Lone Star State in the coming days. The Texas state legislature wrapped up its first special session on Friday,

Democrats' absence has halted work in the Texas House, which must also approve the new boundaries, for more than a week.

Republicans hold a 219-212 majority in the House, with four vacancies. New maps are typically drawn once a decade after the census is conducted. Many states, including Texas, give legislators the power to draw maps. California is among states that rely on an independent commission that is supposed to be nonpartisan.

After leaving the state to block the G.O.P. from redrawing the state’s congressional maps, Democratic lawmakers are keeping the pressure on from afar.

Plus, ahead of Friday's summit, Trump threatens “very severe consequences” if Putin doesn’t agree to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

In a display of cutthroat yet calculated politics, Democrats unveiled a proposal Friday that could give California’s dominant political party an additional five U.S. House seats in a bid to win the fight to control Congress next year.