Politics and views in the United States

Hakeem Jeffries and Ron DeSantis clash over redistricting, Congressional approval returns to record lows, Maine considers the nation's first ban on data centers and Senate Democrats push to protect mail-in voting.

Transcript

Welcome to 2026 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

Our message to Florida Republicans is F around and find out.

If they go down the road of a DeSantis dummy mander, the Florida Republicans are going to find themselves in the same situation as Texas Republicans, who are on the run right now.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries issued a stark warning to the Florida GOP following Democrats' Nero victory in Virginia's redistricting referendum.

Jeffries threatened target districts in the state as Democrats have outperformed expectations in a recent hot streak of special election wins.

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis fired back at Jeffries, inviting him to campaign in the Sunshine State.

There's nothing that could be better for Republicans in Florida than to see Jeffries, Hakeem Jeffries, everywhere around this state.

Voters will not like what they see.

They will not want that type of ideology.

DeSantis called a special session starting Tuesday to take up redistricting.

It's the last chance for Republicans to draw congressional districts in their favor, with current lines essentially even or giving a slight edge to Democrats.

Congressional approval has sunk to historic levels, with just 10 percent of Americans approving, close to an all-time low of 9 percent in 2013.

Analysts point to major declines in approval among Republican-leaning voters, repeated government shutdowns, sexual assault allegations against members of Congress, and ongoing military action abroad.

An Arizona appeals court rejected a sweeping lawsuit from an organization backed by President Donald Trump's senior advisor, Stephen Miller.

The action attempted to upend Arizona's use of ballot drop boxes, its process for carrying ballot signatures on ballots, and its overall signature verification system.

And as Trump seeks to enact an executive order curtailing mail-in voting, dozens of Democratic senators sent a letter to the Postal Service urging the agency to not comply, arguing the president has no authority to regulate voting.

Meanwhile, California Democratic Senator Alex Padilla introduced legislation that would block those provisions, in addition to efforts to create a national voter registration database.

Data centers continue to draw the ire of large swaths of the American public and spur protests from community activists.

Residents in Port Washington, Wisconsin, recently passed a first-ever referendum to require voter approval for any project.

And Maine could become the first state to outright ban data centers, as state lawmakers studied the impact on utility rates and energy usage.

Seth Barry with the nonprofit Our Power says the ban is unprecedented and has seen bipartisan support.

I think there's growing concern among a broad swath of the American public about rising electricity costs, about the lack of employment that data centers offer.

Opponents are also concerned about high greenhouse gas emissions and intense water usage.

But some business advocates say data center projects bring jobs.

Polling shows 65 percent of Americans disapprove of AI data center development, with just 20 percent in support.

I'm Zamone Perez from Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.