South Carolina's Republican-controlled state senate rejected Donald Trump's demand to redraw the state's congressional map on Tuesday, handing the president a rare defeat on Capitol Hill and signaling that at least some GOP lawmakers are willing to resist his direct orders.
The chamber voted 29-17 on the redistricting proposal, falling two votes short of the two-thirds majority required. Five Republicans broke ranks to join all Democrats in opposing the measure.
Trump had publicly pressured the chamber the night before, writing on social media that he would be "watching closely" and demanding lawmakers "GET IT DONE." The president had also phoned Massey over the weekend.
But Shane Massey, South Carolina's Republican senate majority leader, delivered an extraordinary floor speech defending the decision to reject the plan. Standing before portraits of the state's historical legislators, he argued that pursuing redistricting would damage South Carolina's national standing and influence.
"South Carolina has always punched above their weight," Massey said. "Doing this will diminish that influence."
Massey acknowledged he would likely face consequences for defying Trump, including potential criticism from the president himself. But he framed his position as a matter of principle.
"There are likely consequences for me, personally, taking the position that I am right now," he said. "I'm comfortable with that. I may not like it, but I'm comfortable with it. Too many people in power want to do whatever it takes to stay in power. I believe the legitimate use of power in this case is to make people safer."
The redistricting effort came in response to a major Supreme Court decision that effectively gutted a key section of the Voting Rights Act. Republican-controlled legislatures in other states moved swiftly to seize the opportunity. Tennessee's GOP-dominated chamber voted last week to eliminate the state's sole Democratic, Black-majority congressional district. Louisiana postponed its primaries as its Republican governor and attorney general argued they could no longer use the current district lines.
South Carolina's current map strongly favors Republicans, who hold six of the state's seven congressional districts. The only Democratic-held seat is the sixth district, currently represented by longtime congressman James Clyburn, a powerful fundraiser who has directed significant federal resources to South Carolina for highway construction and rural broadband expansion.
The redistricting plan would have moved Democratic voters from Clyburn's district into adjoining districts held by Republican Representatives Nancy Mace and Joe Wilson, likely forcing a change in representation.
State Senator Darrell Jackson, a Democrat from Richland County, warned that replacing Clyburn would eliminate a crucial advocate for the state at the federal level.
"Not once did the congressman say, 'Take care of my community first and this community second," Jackson said. "All that was said was do right by South Carolina. If Clyburn is replaced by a Republican, who then, is the go-to person. Who then advocates for South Carolina?"
Massey echoed that concern, noting the practical disadvantage of losing representation in the White House orbit.
"There has to be somebody in South Carolina who can make a phone call and somebody at the White House will answer," he said.
Other Republicans raised practical objections to the rushed timeline. Senator Luke Rankin of Horry County, chair of the senate judiciary committee, pointed out that redistricting typically requires months of work and relies on updated population data. South Carolina has been one of the nation's fastest-growing states, but the 2020 census data no longer accurately reflects current demographics.
"There is no time for the senate judiciary committee to fill in the blanks in the process," Rankin said.
Chip Campsen, a Charleston-area Republican, highlighted the compressed timeline. "We are being asked to do this in a matter of days," he said. "California produced their map 285 days before their primaries. South Carolina? 14 days before early voting starts. It's almost impossible for us to pull this off, not without a tremendous amount of error added in."
Massey also argued that the current map is already heavily gerrymandered in favor of Republicans and that tampering with it could backfire.
"The numbers are not reliable," Massey said. "What I do know is that we are 6-1 today. If we start tinkering with this, my concern is that we could make this a whole lot worse."
In his remarks, Massey recounted his conversation with Trump, claiming the president told him "you have to do what you're comfortable with, you've got to do what you think is right." But Massey used that opening to distinguish between South Carolina's political culture and the more combative environment in Washington.
He warned that aggressive redistricting tactics could backfire by motivating Democratic turnout and damaging the Republican brand in downstream races.
"When you do something like this, there's going to be an impact," Massey said. "Very candidly, you're going to motivate Black turnout, and there will be repercussions for that, down ballot. The majority will give credibility to minority voices by trying to crush them."
The state legislature is scheduled to adjourn on May 14. Tuesday's vote required a two-thirds majority to add a redistricting vote to the agenda after adjournment, a threshold the proposal failed to clear.
Author James Rodriguez: "Massey's stand suggests that Trump's grip on congressional Republicans isn't absolute, though his willingness to absorb potential retaliation makes him very much the exception."
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