First Thing: Indiana Republicans reject effort to redraw voting maps in rebuke to Trump

Measure to add two GOP-friendly seats failed 19-31 after 21 Republicans joined 10 Democrats. Plus, how the Paris climate treaty changed the world

Good morning.

Indiana Republicans rejected an effort to redraw the state’s lines on Thursday in a rebuke of Donald Trump and Republican efforts to add two more Republican-friendly seats to Indiana’s congressional districts.

How might the administration react to the vote? Heritage Action, the advocacy branch of the conservative Heritage Foundation, posted on social media: “President Trump has made it clear to Indiana leaders: if the Indiana senate fails to pass the map, all federal funding will be stripped from the state. Roads will not be paved. Guard bases will close. Major projects will stop. These are the stakes and every NO vote will be to blame.”

What are Democrats doing on redistricting? They’ve retaliated to the initial push by Texas to add five more likely Republican seats by redrawing maps in California.

Has there been pushback to Trump’s escalation? Yes – after the US seized a tanker named the Skipper off the coast of Venezuela, some US lawmakers expressed concern that Trump was “sleepwalking us into a war with Venezuela”.

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Source: www.theguardian.com

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