U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, or any Democrat running to represent Missouri's 5th Congressional District, is likely to face more of a challenge in the 2026 midterm election.
The Democrat-leaning district covering much of Kansas City is the target of President Trump's plan to redraw congressional maps to pick up more Republican seats in the next midterm election.
Gov. Mike Kehoe has indicated support for the president's request, however, he has yet to call Missouri's legislature into a special session to take up the matter.
"The pressure from the White House can be enormous, and so I think he is not going to resist that. But I think right now, he is measuring the political fallout that could be experienced," Cleaver told KCUR's Up To Date.
Cleaver, who has represented Missouri's 5th District since 2005, is one of just two Democratic representatives in the state's delegation, compared to six Republicans.
In 2022, Republicans considered a 7-1 congressional map that would carve up Cleaver's district, but ultimately backed off. Part of the concern, then and now, is that Republicans could endanger two red seats nearby by giving them more Democratic voters — and energizing that base.
"[T]he legislature attempted to do this three years ago, and they did not have the votes for it," Cleaver said. "And so there are people out there who don't believe that this is the right step, but whether or not they will stand up to Donald Trump, I can bet 100% that they will not."
Clever said Democrats have to respond with fire, or nothing will stop the president and his disregard for the U.S. Constitution.
"I think the democracy is being damaged," he said. "I have said over and over again to my Republican colleagues, if you continue with this, understand you need to dig three graves: One for yourselves, one for the Democrats and one for the Republic. Because nobody wins when we continue to tear asunder the kind of weak fabric right now of our Republic."
- U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, D-Missouri
