Indiana Senate Blocks Trump-Backed Redistricting Plan Amid Fierce Pressure Campaign
Indiana lawmakers on Thursday voted down a controversial congressional redistricting plan backed by President Donald Trump, delivering a rare political setback to the White House. The state Senate rejected the proposal by 31–19, with 21 Republicans joining all 10 Democrats to oppose the map.
The redistricting plan, previously approved by the state House, would likely have eliminated Indiana’s two Democratic-held U.S. House seats and handed Republicans a 9–0 advantage in the state’s congressional delegation.
The vote represents a significant rebuke of Trump’s months-long effort to influence the process. According to reports, the White House mounted an aggressive four-month campaign involving private meetings, public criticism of lawmakers, repeated visits by Vice President JD Vance, and warnings of potential primary challenges and withheld federal funding.
Several Republican senators said the pressure crossed the line.
“The federal government should not dictate by threat or other means what should happen in our states,” said Sen. Spencer Deery. Another GOP lawmaker, Sen. Vaneta Becker, stressed Indiana’s political independence, saying Hoosiers “are not used to Washington trying to tell us what to do.”
Governor Mike Braun criticised the Republicans who voted against the map, describing them as “a small group of misguided state senators” who sided with Democrats to block what he called “fair maps.” But former Governor Mitch Daniels praised Senate leaders for showing “courageous, principled leadership” in standing up to the president.
Trump later dismissed the defeat, telling reporters that Senate President Rodric Bray—whom he referred to as “Bray, whatever his name is”—had done “a tremendous disservice,” while adding that he “wasn’t working on it very hard” and that Republicans had succeeded in “every other state.”
The failed vote is expected to reverberate nationally. Indiana was part of a broader Republican effort to secure and expand control of the U.S. House through aggressive redistricting ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. While similar efforts in other states have yielded gains for the GOP, Indiana’s defiance marks one of the most notable pushbacks to date.
