Politics and views in the United States

South Carolina lawmakers push back against redistricting, as a court greenlights a new map in Missouri. Congress considers a federal book ban and the Trump Administration may bar transgender women from homeless shelters.

Transcript

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

Are Republicans willing to use the constitutional authority given to us by the people of South Carolina, or are we going to sit back and allow the political status quo to continue unchecked?

South Carolina Republican State Senator Luke Rankin calls for redistricting, accusing the Democrats of using gerrymandering to block conservatives from power.

His bill that would have broken up the state's only blue district passed the House, but failed in the state Senate, with five Republicans joining Democrats to deny it the two-thirds majority it needed.

The South Carolina Republican Party is considering limiting the state's primary to voters registered with the party.

Some argue closed primaries amplify the voices of dedicated party members.

Others warn they amount to a purge, discouraging independent voters and making the nominees less competitive in the general election.

The Missouri Supreme Court has approved a new congressional map there, breaking up the Kansas City district of a longtime black Democrat.

President Donald Trump is reiterating his desire to send National Guard troops and ICE agents to monitor polling sites.

He claims that would keep the election honest, though many call it voter intimidation.

Chrissy Hart with the Maine League of Women Voters says they're ramping up election observer training ahead of the state's June 9th primary in part to protect the process.

We want people to understand what it means to have state and locally administered elections and why that makes them so secure and why some of these concerns, There is voter fraud.

This is the furthest thing from the truth.

A new bill in Congress could limit books at libraries nationwide.

H.R. 7661 prohibits funds through the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act for schools providing, quote, sexually oriented material.

While this applies to books deemed inappropriate for kids under age 18, it also directly bans books mentioning transgenderism and gender dysphoria.

Supporters say it's about protecting kids.

But Gwen Camp, with every library, a reading rights group, calls it alarming.

When it did move out of committee, that got us worried of what is this going to do to our libraries and our schools who are overworked and underfunded, as it is.

And then you're going to throw in this whole ridiculous level of book banning.

Several times, the Trump administration has attempted to zero the budget for the Institute for Museum and Library Sciences, which funds most of the nation's public libraries.

A federal proposal to let federally supported homeless shelters deny transgender women access to women's bathrooms and sleeping quarters is open for public comment until the end of next month.

The administration argues it's needed to protect facility safety, even though they haven't cited any specific cases of harassment or harm done to shelter residents by transgender women.

Tony Newman is with the nonprofit Trans Can Work.

This rule was really established to ensure federally funded housing and shelter programs operate with fairness.

No one really should be denied shelter or made to feel unwelcome, unsafe because of simply who they are.

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

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