It’s an attempt to intimidate representatives and the communities they represent, but it didn’t work, Tennessee House Rep. Yusuf Hakeem, D-Chattanooga, said about last week’s decision to remove all members of the House Democratic Caucus from their committee assignments.
Republican leadership took the step, saying Democrats created disorder during a special session at which the state GOP passed a new map of congressional districts.
The removal was announced through a letter sent by House Speaker Cameron Sexton after Tennessee became the first state to pass new congressional maps that split the majority-Black and only Democrat-held district in Memphis into three districts, following a Supreme Court ruling that carves out Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and lifts requirements to consider race when drawing districts.
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Democrats opposed the new congressional maps throughout the three-day special session, while protesters sat in various committees and lined the Capitol halls, arguing the redistricting would suppress the Black vote.