Politics and views in the United States.

Texas Democratic legislators leave the state to block a GOP redistricting plan. Trump fires the head of Bureau of Labor Statistics after a negative jobs report. And mass immigration arrests aren't targeting the people they were said to be aimed at.

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to 2025 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

Our system that was gifted to us by the framers of the Constitution should be one where the people of Texas are able to decide which elected officials have the ability and honor to represent them in Washington.

U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says he stands with Texas Democratic legislators who are leaving the state to block a vote on new redistricting maps at the request of Donald Trump, Texas state Republicans have proposed new maps that could cost Democrats up to five congressional seats.

They would break up three urban districts and aim to make some in the Rio Grande Valley more Republican.

The lawmakers' absence from the statehouse aims to prevent a necessary quorum to hold a vote this week.

The Democratic lawmakers going to Chicago and New York are holding rallies with Governors J.B. Pritzker and Kathy Hochul, but Republican lawmakers back home may issue civil arrest warrants for violating statehouse rules.

The Speaker of the Texas House says all options will be on the table if not enough members are present for a vote.

As unusual as mid-decade redistricting is, half a dozen states, red and blue, may follow suit.

Meanwhile, Trump says Friday's weak jobs report was designed to make him look bad, and he's fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Economists and some in the business community warn shooting the messenger and pressuring nonpartisan federal statisticians is a terrible idea, but Stephen Myron, chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, insists Trump's policies aren't failing.

Obviously there were elements of it that we didn't love, but the trade deals are now in place that cover, including the U.S., almost 60 percent of the global economy.

Huge deal for America, like huge investments coming in, commitments to purchase everything from energy to defense products.

Trump moved U.S. nuclear submarines in response to statements from a former Russian president about the risk of war increasing.

Security officials call the move symbolic given the U.S. already has nuclear-armed and powered submarines in the area.

According to a new report, ISIS mass arrests of migrants are a solution without a problem.

The Immigration Research Initiative says their data shows most people being detained don't have a criminal conviction, although they may have committed a civil violation by breaking immigration law.

Report co-author Chloe East says ICE's aggressive tactics resemble political rhetoric more than an actual solution.

We see ICE responding to the higher quota of the number of daily arrests.

And we also see ICE targeting the democratically controlled cities Trump and his borders are more explicit that they wanted to target.

The Senate is heading home after a rare weekend session to speed up progress on Trump appointees.

The president has been urging the chamber to cancel its August recess in favor of speeding through nominations which have ground to a halt due in part to Democratic resistance.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says he and others in the chamber wanted progress but found it impossible.

Donald Trump tried to bully us, go around us, threaten us, call us names, but he got nothing and he walked away with his tail between his legs.

One of these days, Trump is going to have to learn that he needs to work with Democrats to help the American people.

I'm Edwin J. Vieira for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

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