In a move that has Democrats reaching for their copies of the Voting Rights Act and sighing heavily, Tennessee Republicans have officially passed a new congressional map that eliminates the state's only Democratic and majority-Black district. Senator Marsha Blackburn, who has been in the US Senate since 2019 and is currently running for governor, celebrated the news with the kind of gusto usually reserved for championship wins: "This is how we cement President Trump's agenda and usher in America's Golden Age here in Tennessee, and how we become America's conservative leader."

Meanwhile, South Carolina Republicans are trying to extend their legislative session to redraw their own congressional map, with the stated goal of eliminating the state's only Democratic House district - currently occupied by Congressman Jim Clyburn. Clyburn noted that the district is also majority-Black, which he described as not a coincidence. "This fight is bigger than one district," Clyburn posted on X. "It's about whether our democracy belongs to the people, or to politicians who change the rules when they don't like the results."

The Democratic social media account on X was less diplomatic, calling the Tennessee map "another shameful power grab by the GOP in their attempt to rig the midterms." Former Attorney General Eric Holder, who served from 2009 to 2015, weighed in with a lengthy statement invoking Martin Luther King Jr., the Voting Rights Act, and the phrase "modern-day Jim Crow" - all before lunchtime. "Tennessee Republicans shamelessly and happily racing to diminish the voting power of Black citizens shows just how detrimental the Roberts Court's decision to gut the Voting Rights Act is to our democracy," Holder wrote.

In a related development, the Southern Poverty Law Center pled not guilty on Thursday to charges of fraud and money laundering related to a now-defunct informant program that monitored rightwing extremist groups. Legal experts say the case is weak, but that hasn't stopped Trump and allies from using it to raise doubts about rightwing extremism - because nothing says "credible threat assessment" like a criminal indictment that might not hold up in court.

In other news, Donald Trump met with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at the White House for nearly three hours - far longer than scheduled, and far more cordial than some had feared. Lula posted photos of the two smiling and shaking hands, which is either a sign of genuine diplomacy or the world's most awkward LinkedIn profile update. Trump, for his part, summarized the meeting on Truth Social: "We discussed many topics, including Trade and, specifically, Tariffs. The meeting went very well."

Back in Tennessee, the new map splits Shelby County - home to Memphis - into three districts, effectively separating a majority-Black voting bloc into pieces that snake 200 miles away to Nashville's suburbs. State Representative Vincent Dixie of Nashville posed a question that seemed to hang in the air like a bad smell: "If Republican policies are so great, why are we changing the lines to rig elections? Where is your humanity in this?"

Republican state senator Brent Taylor, who announced he would run for Congress in the redrawn ninth district against incumbent Democrat Steve Cohen, was more direct: "I've cleaned up the streets of Memphis, and now I'm ready to clean up Washington DC." He received immediate endorsements from both of Tennessee's GOP senators, Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, who apparently believe that splitting up a community is the best way to serve it.

In Maine, Senator Susan Collins released her first television ad of the midterms, highlighting her seniority and the millions she has steered toward her state. She also revealed a decades-old medical condition that affects her appearance but not her ability to do her job - which is a polite way of saying, "I'm still here, and I'm still capable of being the deciding vote on things."

And finally, the White House press pool is still waiting to be called to the Oval Office for the Trump-Lula meeting, which ran three hours late. At this point, they've probably read the entire Tennessee redistricting saga twice.