WEEKLY POINTS

This week’s guide to government and politics in under 10 minutes

I GERRYMANDERING SHOWDOWN

The redistricting race is well underway, with Texas passing a redrawn district map and California passing legislation to start that process. On Thursday, California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, signed two redistricting bills the state’s legislature passed earlier in the day, paving the way for a special election in November. The bills are a response to efforts in Texas, where the state is redrawing its districts with the goal of increasing the number of Republican lawmakers the state sends to Congress. Other states held by both Democrats and Republicans are also looking into partisan redistricting efforts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, including New York, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, Illinois, and Ohio.

>> Discover what’s been happening in Texas and California here.

I PRESIDENT TRUMP FLOATS CHICAGO NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYMENT

Yesterday, ABC News reported that it had confirmation from a U.S. official that the Pentagon is planning a possible deployment of the National Guard in Chicago. The city’s mayor, Brandon Johnson, says that he has been in contact with state and county officials, but has not heard anything from the federal government. Mayor Johnson called the possible deployment “costly, illegal, and unconstitutional.” Reporting from the Washington Post claims that the Trump administration is exploring several different deployment options as soon as September to target crime, homelessness, and illegal immigration.

>> Find out more about the National Guard and how National Guard deployments work here.

I KEY INFLATION UPDATE DUE FRIDAY

The federal government will release the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (PCE) for July this Friday. The PCE is a measure of how much people living in the U.S. pay for goods and services across a wide range of consumer expenses. The PCE measures the prices for final goods and services purchased by consumers that are produced in or imported to the U.S. It is similar to the Consumer Price Index, but uses different formulas. The PCE attempts to capture consumer’s changing behavior, and looks at a wide range of expenses. The PCE rose 2.6% in June, slightly higher than the expected 2.5% increase.

>> Learn more about how inflation and other economic factors affect young people here.

I DEADLY PACIFIC-NORTHWEST HEAT WAVE

Millions in California, Oregon, and Washington state will experience extreme heat through at least tomorrow, with temperatures reaching over 100 degrees. The National Weather Service warns that, "For many areas there will be little nighttime relief from the extreme heat, with overnight lows remaining well above normal. Numerous nighttime temperature records are likely." The heat wave comes with active wild fires already present in the region, including in Oregon and Napa County, California. In Napa, the Pickett Fire has already burned more than 6,800 acres, with firefighters saying that the blaze was 11% contained as of Sunday morning. In central Oregon, the Flat Fire has burned more than 18,000 acres.

>> Understand the way U.S. forest policy deals with wildfires here.

I TRUMP APPOINTS FEDERAL “DESIGN CZAR”

Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia will begin the week as the first U.S. chief design officer after President Trump signed an executive order last Friday to remodel federal websites and forms. Gebbia has said that he wants to update federal websites to an “Apple Store-like experience,” stressing “beautiful design” and “great user experience” as his primary goals. Calling mobile apps and websites the “front door to government” in an interview with Axios, the 44-year-old Gebbia will help establish a National Design Studio within the White House to standardize government website and app designs. There is no information on what government websites or apps will experience the first redesign efforts.

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