South Carolina Senate Blocks Trump-Backed Redistricting Effort

South Carolina Senate Republicans rejected President Donald Trump’s call to enter the mid-decade redistricting fight and draw new congressional maps Tuesday.

The effort failed in a 29-17 vote, falling short of the two-thirds threshold required to suspend the legislature’s scheduled adjournment and allow lawmakers to remain in session beyond the end of the legislative year as Republicans weighed a possible redraw ahead of the midterms.

The decision undercuts a push backed by Trump, who this week encouraged the state’s legislators to postpone congressional primaries and revisit the state’s map following a recent US Supreme Court ruling, which spurred a new round of mid-decade redistricting fights across Republican-led states.

“I’m watching closely, along with all Republicans across the Country who are counting on their Elected Leaders to use every Legal and Constitutional authority they have,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Meanwhile, a South Carolina House subcommittee voted earlier Tuesday to advance a proposed congressional redistricting bill to the Judiciary Committee.

The proposed map would have reconfigured the district represented by Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), the last Democrat-held congressional seat in the state, making it more favorable to Republicans.

The debate on the Senate floor exposed divisions between South Carolina Republicans over whether to pursue a redraw, which supporters say could strengthen GOP representation, but critics warn could trigger legal and political backlash.

Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, one of the most outspoken Republican critics of the proposal, warned during floor debate that the effort could politically backfire by energizing Black voters and create unintended consequences for Republicans further down the ballot.

“There will be Republican losses in the State House of Representatives because of this,” he said.

Massey also raised concerns about military and absentee ballots that have already been cast, as well as the logistical challenges of altering district lines weeks before an election.

Republicans across several states have interpreted the US Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais as giving them more room to redraw districts around partisan advantage so long as they avoid explicitly using race as the driving factor. Lawmakers in Tennessee, for instance, recently approved a new congressional map designed to help the party capture all nine of the state’s US House seats.