By a vote of 5-4, a coalition of liberal and conservative justices essentially upheld the court's 1986 decision requiring that in states where voting is racially polarized, the legislature must create the maximum number of majority-Black or near-majority-Black congressional districts, using traditional redistricting criteria. The surprise decisions could impact other states' maps as well.And House Republican hardliners using procedural fights to disrupt the work of the chamber, lashing out after Speaker McCarthy's debt ceiling deal with the Biden administration.This episode: White House correspondent Scott Detrow, voting correspondent Hansi Lo Wang, national political correspondent Mara Liasson, and congressional reporter Barbara Sprunt.The podcast is produced by Elena Moore and Casey Morell. Our editor is Eric McDaniel. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi. Unlock access to this and other bonus content by supporting The NPR Politics Podcast+. Sign up via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Connect:Email the show at [email protected] the NPR Politics Podcast Facebook Group.Subscribe to the NPR Politics Newsletter.

Former vice president Mike Pence and former New Jersey governor Chris Christie were both early, key allies of Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential campaign. Now, they are both trying to end his political career and claim the GOP presidential nomination for themselves.This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith, political correspondent Kelsey Snell, and national political correspondent Mara Liasson.The podcast is produced by Elena Moore and Casey Morell. Our editor is Eric McDaniel. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi. Unlock access to this and other bonus content by supporting The NPR Politics Podcast+. Sign up via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Connect:Email the show at [email protected] the NPR Politics Podcast Facebook Group.Subscribe to the NPR Politics Newsletter.

Schools remain a fixation of conservative political messaging. A new NPR-Ipsos poll asked teachers, parents of school-age children and the general public who should be responsible for setting curricula, what to make of book bans and how they view race and gender-focused lessons.This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith, education correspondent Cory Turner, and senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro.The podcast is produced by Elena Moore and Casey Morell. Our editor is Eric McDaniel. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi. Unlock access to this and other bonus content by supporting The NPR Politics Podcast+. Sign up via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Connect:Email the show at [email protected] the NPR Politics Podcast Facebook Group.Subscribe to the NPR Politics Newsletter.

Texas' top law enforcement official, Attorney General Ken Paxton, has been removed — at least temporarily — from his post by fellow Republicans, following years of allegations concerning ethical lapses and criminal conduct. A final vote in the state senate will decide his fate.Republican lawmakers in the state are also working to change how elections are overseen in the Texas' largest county. Good governance advocates have raised concerns that the new rules could jeopardize election integrity in one of the nation's most populous metropolitan areas.This episode: White House correspondent Tamara Keith, Houston Public Media's Andrew Schneider, and voting correspondent Miles Parks.The podcast is produced by Elena Moore and Casey Morell. Our editor is Eric McDaniel. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi. Unlock access to this and other bonus content by supporting The NPR Politics Podcast+. Sign up via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Connect:Email the show at [email protected] the NPR Politics Podcast Facebook Group.Subscribe to the NPR Politics Newsletter.

A rare bipartisan success story, the Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC, quietly helped to clean up voter rolls and catch fraud for nearly a decade — until it became the target of the far-right and a Trump allied lawyer.NPR Voting Correspondent Miles Parks and NPR's Investigations Team traced the secret meetings and grassroots pressure to dismantle an obscure elections tool — giving the election denial movement its biggest policy victory yet. To read the investigation, head here. This episode: voting reporter Miles Parks.This episode was produced by by Monika Evstatieva and edited by Ben Swasey and Barrie Hardymon. Data reporting by Nick McMillan. Fact checking by Barbara Van Woerkom. Audio engineering by James Willetts.Unlock access to this and other bonus content by supporting The NPR Politics Podcast+. Sign up via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Connect:Email the show at [email protected] the NPR Politics Podcast Facebook Group.Subscribe to the NPR Politics Newsletter.