U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen calls it an “abomination” that Texas lawmakers are moving to redo their political maps to help Republicans try to maintain control of Congress in next year's midterm elections.
The Democrat from Moline suggests California's efforts to offset those Republican gains are justified.
“When rules are changed, we need to fight back and we can’t just kowtow to a president who will say it out loud that when he has a 100-seat majority that all politics will be over,” Sorensen said in an interview on WGLT’s Sound Ideas.
Political maps are typically redone once a decade after each census. Texas is looking to adopt a mid-decade map change at the behest of President Donald Trump in hopes of adding five more Republican seats in 2027.
Social Security
Sorensen says the Trump administration's efforts to cut staff and close offices at the Social Security Administration are part of an effort to privatize the program.
Closing field offices will make it harder for people to figure out their benefits, he said, especially when fewer staff will be taking calls.
“This administration, Donald Trump doesn’t want this to work and he wants to destroy [Social Security] so he can privatize it the way that he wants,” said Sorensen, who represents parts of Bloomington-Normal and much of central and northwestern Illinois.
Social Security is expected to become insolvent by late 2032, according to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Benefits would then need to be reduced unless action is taken.
Cash bail
Trump on Monday issued an executive order that aims to defund states like Illinois that have adopted laws that end cash bill.
Illinois banned cash bail as a condition of pretrial release in 2023.
Trump has called cashless bail a threat to public safety.
Sorensen did not suggest how the state of Illinois should respond to the president’s action., adding his talks with law enforcement throughout the 17th Congressional District and with crime victims suggest a measured approach.
“It’s not a black and white issue, but there’s a lot of gray area in between and maybe we could look at that,” he said.
Sorensen spoke with reporters after a rally and news conference where AFSCME union leaders criticized the recently approved Big Beautiful Bill that Sorensen opposed.
