Congress

President Trump has been pressuring Gov. Mike Kehoe to call a special session for mid-decade redistricting. Republican lawmakers hope to gerrymander congressional lines around Kansas City, diluting Democratic voting power and making it harder for Rep. Emanuel Cleaver to win in the 2026 midterms.

The St. Charles County Republican was a strong supporter in 2022 of drawing a map that would have made it much harder for Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver to win another term representing Kansas City.

Boone County residents questioned Republican Rep. Mark Alford about his vote for Medicaid cuts in the "Big Beautiful Bill," Trump's deployment of the National Guard, and other GOP priorities.

Missouri lawmakers may redraw Kansas City's congressional district to dilute Democratic voting power, in order for Republicans to win another seat in the 2026 midterms. Democrats intend to fight, but ultimately, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver said that President Trump's disregard for democracy will endanger the country.

Redistricting critics warn that efforts to redraw maps mid-decade risks fueling further gridlock in Congress, and ceding more power to the executive and judicial branches. Missouri Republicans appear ready to jump into the gerrymandering game.

U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell, a Democrat representing St. Louis County, was repeatedly challenged about the war in Gaza at a town hall that drew about 300 people. The event ended with security officers and police getting into a physical altercation with protesters, but no arrests were made.

Gov. Mike Kehoe wouldn't say whether he would call a special session to gerrymander the congressional map around Kansas City, and make it difficult for a Democrat to win in the 5th District. But he did say he shares Trump's vision for Republicans keeping control of the U.S. House.

State leaders in both parties say they're ready to redraw political lines ahead of 2026, but state laws and constitutions make mid-decade redistricting virtually impossible in many places. In Missouri, Republicans are taking aim at Kansas City's U.S. House seat.

Missouri Republican lawmakers seem to have all the leverage to gerrymander congressional districts in September, with the explicitly partisan aim of making it difficult for Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver to win reelection. But if they succeed, it could unleash a torrent of legal and political consequences.

In a little more than a week, the idea of redrawing Missouri’s congressional district lines has gained momentum among Republicans — with the explicitly partisan purpose of watering down Democratic voting power in the Kansas City-area 5th District, and forcing U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver out of his seat.

Two Democratic candidates recently launched their campaigns against Cleaver for his seat in Missouri’s 5th Congressional District. That race will only get more challenging as a battle looms for possible redistricting that would make the seat more conservative.

The bill from Missouri Republican Rep. Bob Onder is called the "Make Entertainment Great Again Act," but it focuses on one particular venue: the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Significant obstacles stand in the way.