Indiana Republicans reversed course on Tuesday and said they would vote on the new congressional map that President Trump has sought, an announcement that followed a pressure campaign from the White House.
Less than two weeks ago, Rodric Bray, the president pro tem of the Indiana Senate, dismissed the possibility of remapping, saying that “there are not enough votes to move that idea forward.” But on Tuesday, Mr. Bray, a Republican, said his chamber would meet on Dec. 8 “and make a final decision that week on any redistricting proposal sent from the House.”
“The issue of redrawing Indiana’s congressional maps midcycle has received a lot of attention and is causing strife here in our state,” Mr. Bray said in a statement explaining the change. Several Indiana Republicans, both opponents and supporters of remapping, have told local reporters in recent days that they had been targeted with “swatting” or threats of violence.
The turnabout does not necessarily mean that the Senate has the votes to change Indiana’s political maps to boost Republican numbers in Congress ahead of the midterm elections, outside the usual once-a-decade cycle. But the announcement came after Mr. Trump called out some Indiana Republicans by name on social media and promised to back primary challengers against those who resisted a new map.
For months, the president and his allies have pushed for new congressional boundaries that favor Republicans in all nine U.S. House districts. Republicans currently hold seven of those seats. But unlike in Texas, Missouri and North Carolina, many Republicans in the Indiana legislature did not immediately fall in line, even after Vice President JD Vance visited twice and Mr. Trump spoke to lawmakers on the phone.
The legislative resistance continued after Gov. Mike Braun, a Republican, called a special session on redistricting and after Mr. Trump began publicly criticizing Republican holdouts, referring to Mr. Bray as a “RINO,” or Republican in name only. When lawmakers gathered at the Statehouse last week, they voted to not reconvene until January.
At some point in the last week, that calculation appears to have changed.
On Tuesday afternoon, Todd Huston, the Republican speaker of the Indiana House, said his chamber would meet next Monday to consider a new map. Mr. Huston previously said that he supported redistricting. Minutes later, Mr. Bray released his own statement saying the Senate would return later in December.
Mr. Trump praised the decision in a social media post and again indicated that he would back primary challengers against those who bucked him.
“I am glad to hear the Indiana House is stepping up to do the right thing, and I hope the Senate finds the Votes,” Mr. Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “If they do, I will make sure that all of those people supporting me win their Primaries, and go on to Greatness but, if they don’t, I will partner with the incredibly powerful MAGA Grassroots Republicans to elect STRONG Republicans.”
Democrats, who are vastly outnumbered in the Indiana legislature, criticized the decision to return to Indianapolis.
“They said the votes were not there,” State Senator Shelli Yoder, the chamber’s Democratic leader, said in a statement. “They said this entire push was tearing our state apart and Hoosiers care far more about not being able to afford everyday life than they do political games. And yet the moment Donald Trump intensified his bullying campaign, they caved.”
Redistricting, which usually happens once a decade after the census, began to sweep across the country this summer after Texas Republicans passed a new map at Mr. Trump’s urging. California Democrats responded with a new map of their own, which voters approved this month. Republicans in Missouri and North Carolina forged ahead, too, while Virginia Democrats took steps toward a new map.
But some lawmakers in both parties have become skeptical about redrawing district boundaries outside the usual schedule. Maryland Democrats are divided over the issue, and Kansas Republicans failed to build enough support to meet in a special session and vote on a new map.
The growing legislative resistance to remapping, along with court challenges in states that passed new boundaries, have left it unclear whether either party will eke out a redistricting advantage in next year’s midterms. Republicans are seeking to defend a slim U.S. House majority, while Democrats are looking to gain back a lever of national power.
Nick Corasaniti contributed reporting.
Mitch Smith is a Chicago-based national correspondent for The Times, covering the Midwest and Great Plains.
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