Midwest

Trump turns up heat on fellow Republicans in push to redraw congressional maps ahead of midterms

Published

6 months ago

December 7, 2025

Trump turns up heat on fellow Republicans in push to redraw congressional maps ahead of midterms

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President Donald Trump is amplifying his political targeting of Indiana Republicans who have been resisting calls from the president to move forward with congressional redistricting.

Trump on Tuesday, for a third straight day, vowed to back primary challenges against state Republican lawmakers in the solidly red Midwestern state who didn’t support his push to draw new maps in Indiana, which would create another GOP-leaning congressional district.

“A RINO State Senator, Rodric Bray, who doesn’t care about keeping the Majority in the House in D.C., is the primary problem. Soon, he will have a Primary Problem, as will any other politician who supports him in this stupidity,” Trump warned in a social media post.

Despite pressure from Trump and his political team, Bray, the Republican leader in the state Senate, announced last week that there wasn’t enough support in the chamber to move forward with redistricting. Indiana is the latest battlefield in the high-stakes redistricting showdown pitting Trump and Republicans versus Democrats to shape the 2026 midterm landscape in the fight for the House majority.

INDIANA REPUBLICANS REJECT TRUMP-BACKED REDISTRICTING PUSH

President Donald Trump, seen pointing as he boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on Sept. 11, 2025, is targeting Indiana Republican lawmakers who are not supportive of the president’s congressional redistricting push. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

Republicans currently control seven of Indiana’s nine congressional districts, and any new map passed by the GOP supermajority in the legislature would likely shift the state’s 1st Congressional District from blue-leaning to a red-leaning seat.

Trump on Sunday lambasted Bray and another Republican state senator, calling for their ouster.

The president returned to social media a day later, charging, “Because of these two politically correct type ‘gentlemen,’ and a few others, they could be depriving Republicans of a Majority in the House, A VERY BIG DEAL!”

RULING BY RED STATE JUDGE REDISTRICTING SETBACK FOR REPUBLICANS

Trump is twisting elbows in his attempt to make Indiana the latest Republican-controlled state to change their congressional maps. The president has called state lawmakers and Vice President JD Vance visited the state earlier this autumn to discuss redistricting.

And Fox News has confirmed that Trump has invited some of the Indiana Republicans who are holding out against redistricting to White House meetings in the coming days. The news was first reported by Politico.

Indiana Gov. Mike Braun speaks during a press conference at the Gary Chicago International Airport in Gary, Indiana, on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. He has called a special session to redraw the state’s congressional map. (Michael Gard/Post-Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Trump, in his Sunday post, also took a jab at Republican Gov. Mike Braun of Indiana, arguing that the governor “perhaps, is not working the way he should to get the necessary Votes.”

Braun on Monday wrote on social media that “I just had a great call with President Trump! I told him I remain committed to standing with him on the critical issue of passing fair maps in Indiana to ensure the MAGA agenda is successful in Congress.”

And the governor claimed that “the Indiana State Senate is hiding behind closed doors and refusing to even bring redistricting to a vote. Hoosiers deserve to know where their legislators stand and expect them to show up for work, not walk out and hide in the dark.”

Trump on Tuesday called Braun “a good man,” but warned he “must produce on this, or he will be the only Governor, Republican or Democrat, who didn’t.”

NEWSOM TAKES VICTORY LAP AFTER LANDSLIDE REDISTRICTING VICTORY IN CALIFORNIA

The push by the president in Indiana is part of a broad effort by Trump’s political team and the GOP to pad the party’s razor-thin House majority to keep control of the chamber in next year’s midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats.

Trump is aiming to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House when Democrats reclaimed the House majority in the 2018 midterm elections.

Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio have drawn new maps as part of the president’s push. And Florida and Kansas are also mulling redrawing their maps.

“We must keep the Majority at all costs,” Trump wrote Monday.

But on Tuesday, a three-judge federal panel delivered a blow to Trump and Republicans, by ruling that the state can’t use the newly drawn map in next year’s elections. Texas Republicans say they’ll appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, Democrats are fighting back.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during an election night press conference at a California Democratic Party office Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, in Sacramento, California. (Godofredo A. Vásquez/AP Photo)

California voters two weeks ago overwhelmingly passed Proposition 50, a ballot initiative which will temporarily sidetrack the left-leaning state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission and return the power to draw the congressional maps to the Democrat-dominated legislature.

That is expected to result in five more Democratic-leaning congressional districts in California, which would counter the passage earlier this year in Texas of a new map that aims to create up to five right-leaning House seats.

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Illinois and Maryland, two blue states, and Virginia, where Democrats control the legislature, are also taking steps or seriously considering redistricting.

And in a blow to Republicans, a Utah district judge last week rejected a congressional district map drawn up by the state’s GOP-dominated legislature and instead approved an alternate that will create a Democratic-leaning district ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in the swing state of New Hampshire. He covers the campaign trail from coast to coast.”

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Related Topics:Congress donald trump Elections house of representatives indiana Midterm Elections republicans elections

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Detroit, MI

Another bribery scandal hits Detroit. It involves the People Mover

Published

3 hours ago

June 3, 2026

Press Room

Another bribery scandal hits Detroit. It involves the People Mover

A former Detroit People Mover official is accused of accepting $300,000 in bribes.
The official allegedly approved phony invoices for IT work that was never performed.
The businessman who submitted the invoices owned a home restoration company with no IT experience.

More than a decade ago, a juror in a Detroit public corruption trial that ended with three men getting convicted in a $97 million bribery scheme exclaimed: “Hopefully this is the end of this nightmare … this is a whole new beginning.”

It didn’t quite go that way as the following years saw two city councilmen indictments, a dozen school principal bribery convictions, a towing scandal, as well as a toxic dirt and demolition fiasco.

And now there’s this.

In a new criminal filing in U.S. District Court, a former city official in charge of the Detroit People Mover shuttle is charged with taking $300,000 in bribes from a businessmen who reportedly billed the city for work that was never performed — all with the help of his connected associate.

According to a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday, June 2 in U.S. District Court, the alleged scheme involves 55-year-old Michael Anderson, a former director with the Detroit Transportation Corporation, who allegedly helped Detroit businessman Terrence Parker bill the city for nearly $305,000 in information technology work that was never performed.

Moreover, court records show, Parker’s company has no experience with IT work, but rather performs restoration work on homes damaged by storms and natural disasters. Still, the FBI says, Parker managed to submit 22 phony invoices to the DTC for IT work, including fixing computer monitors — and got paid for all of it. That’s because Anderson was approving his phony invoices from the inside, the government says, and getting money in exchange for his help.

Anderson and Parker both are charged with conspiracy and federal program theft/bribery and face up to 10 years in prison, if convicted. They were released on bond following their initial appearances in U.S. District Court. Their court-appointed lawyer could not be reached for comment.

According to the complaint, Anderson, who was hired by the city in 2022, was in charge of overseeing People Mover operations until he was fired in April for conduct unrelated to the pending criminal case. Parker owns a business called Total Care Restoration (TCR), which performs restoration work on homes damaged by fire, water, windstorms, or other elements.

According to the government, Parker was billing the DTC for information technology services, even though his company has no experience in that field, nor has it ever submitted a bid proposal to the city for such work, or signed any contract with the DTC.

Still, the government alleges, between 2023-25, the DTC paid nearly $305,000 to TCR for 23 invoices it had submitted, 22 of those invoices charged for IT services.

“Anderson approved the invoices and Parker deposited the checks into TCR’s bank account. TCR did not submit any invoices or receive any payments before Anderson was hired as Procurement Director. Likewise, TCR did not submit any invoices or receive any payments after Anderson was fired as Procurement Director,” the complaint states.

According to the government, Anderson did actually procure and manage IT contracts with a number of companies while he worked for the DTC. But TCR was billing the city for work that those companies had been contracted to do.

“At least six TCR invoices listed work that was actually contracted to (another company),” an FBI agent wrote in his affidavit attached to the criminal complaint.

Also noteworthy, the FBI agent writes: “Most of TCR’s invoices contained a charge for debris removal. In my experience, debris removal is a common line item for restoration projects but not for IT work.”

According to the complaint, the FBI figured out that Parker was funneling money to Anderson by reviewing their bank records, and noticing that their deposits and withdrawals coincided. For example, on Aug. 16, 2024, Parker deposited a DTC check for $23,934 and withdrew $18,000 cash. That same day and over the next several days, Anderson made cash deposits into his account for $1,500, $1,300, $1,000, $700 and $1,850.

“There is probable cause to believe that Parker paid Anderson a portion of the money from the TCR invoices,” the FBI agent writes.

Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com

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Milwaukee, WI

MPS staffer who got plea deal in slapping case had earlier incident

Published

3 hours ago

June 3, 2026

Press Room

MPS staffer who got plea deal in slapping case had earlier incident

A former Milwaukee Public Schools paraprofessional received a deferred plea agreement for slapping a special education student.
Personnel records show the paraprofessional, Demitrios Visvardis, was accused of slapping another vulnerable student a year earlier.
Milwaukee Public Schools did not report the first incident to the police, according to department records.

When family members of a special education student voiced displeasure with a deferred plea agreement for former MPS paraprofessional Demitrios Visvardis in February, they were told it was fair given his lack of prior offenses.

Visvardis was charged with battery four months earlier in connection with an incident involving Shrone Dunn, 18, of Riverside High School.

“This ain’t nothing but a slap on the wrist,” Tyrone Dunn, Shrone’s father, said during the plea hearing. “We’re looking for justice.”

Milwaukee County Judge David Borowski assured Dunn of District Attorney Erin Karshen’s ability to fully prosecute based on what was known.

But records obtained by the Journal Sentinel through an open records request raise questions about Visvardis’s history, and how much was known before the plea deal was reached.

Visvardis has no prior criminal record, but documents in his personnel file at Milwaukee Public Schools reference a 2024 accusation that he struck a special education student.

In a December 2025 letter filed after a disciplinary hearing, MPS hearing officer Natalie Fluker said the November 2025 incident involving Shrone Dunn was “the second time in a year that [Visvardis has] been accused of slapping a vulnerable student.”

The letter references findings made by hearing officer Gary Johnson during disciplinary proceedings related to the 2024 incident.

Earlier incident also involved slapping

According to the December letter, another Riverside High School staff member expressed concern to Principal Jeff Lasky after witnessing Visvardis slap an intellectually disabled student on October 10, 2024. As with the incident involving Dunn, review of security footage confirmed the allegations.

Visvardis physically kept the student on a vent near an exit on the first floor of the school building despite the student’s multiple attempts to get up, according to the letter. Describing the footage, Johnson wrote, “The student appears to scream and you turn and slap him on the face. You then exit the hallway.”

Visvardis apologized for the incident, stating it was the worst thing he’d ever done.

Milwaukee Public Schools failed to report prior incident

According to the MPS employee handbook, the district generally follows a progressive discipline model that depends on the behavior and frequency of occurrences.

Johnson found the first incident to be “especially egregious, considering the unnecessary and excessive force” used on Student A and recommended a departure from the progressive discipline model. The departure meant Visvardis would be issued a three-day unpaid suspension and required enrollment in a course in nonviolent crisis intervention.

The school district did not directly respond to questions from the Journal Sentinel about whether the police were notified of the incident in 2024. It also declined to say whether Student A’s parents were informed or what steps were taken to protect the student following the incident.

“The safety of our students is our highest priority,” Stephen Davis, a media relations manager at Milwaukee Public Schools, told the Journal Sentinel in an emailed statement. “We cannot discuss the details of any personnel matter, and the current administration would not be able to speak about how a prior case was addressed in 2024.”

But according to Milwaukee Police Department records, no report associated with Visvardis exists since January 2021 beyond the report on his arrest on November 13, 2025. That’s the day after Riverside cameras captured footage of Visvardis slapping Dunn “with an open hand to the left side of face,” according to police records.

Review hearing scheduled for this week

Visvardis is due back in court on Thursday, June 4.

According to the deferred prosecution agreement obtained by the Journal Sentinel, he will be eligible to seek employment in a “school, group home or any other place of employment where he would interact with other vulnerable people” this month, given successful completion of an anger management treatment program.

Meanwhile, the Dunn Family has filed a lawsuit against the City of Milwaukee, Milwaukee Board of School Directors, and Visvardis.

April Quevedo covers Metcalfe Park for the Journal Sentinel’s Neighborhood Dispatch. Contact: aquevedo@usatodayco.com.

Neighborhood Dispatch reporting is supported by Northwestern Mutual Foundation, Journal Foundation, Bader Philanthropies, Greater Milwaukee Foundation, and reader contributions to the Journal Sentinel Community-Funded Journalism Project. Journal Sentinel editors maintain full editorial control over all content. To support this work, visit jsonline.com/support. Checks can be addressed to Local Media Foundation (memo: “JS Community Journalism”) and mailed to P.O. Box 85015, Chicago, IL 60689.

The JS Community-Funded Journalism Project is administered by Local Media Foundation, tax ID #36-4427750, a Section 501(c)(3) charitable trust affiliated with Local Media Association, and EnMotive, a subsidiary of USA TODAY Co.

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