Indiana Gov. Mike Braun and Rep. Marlin Stutzman told Newsmax on Monday that Republican resistance inside the Indiana state Senate is holding up redistricting legislation — despite mounting pressure from President Donald Trump himself.
Their appearance on "Rob Schmitt Tonight" came just hours after Trump blasted several Indiana Republicans, including Braun, for not moving fast enough to deliver new congressional maps ahead of 2026.
Braun said he spoke with Trump for more than 10 minutes earlier in the day and made clear that he shares the president's sense of urgency.
"He knows where I'm at in this whole navigation. I can call them into session — and I did, with plenty of time. This has been several months, Rob, where they've been dragging their feet," Braun told Schmitt.
Braun said that as more GOP state senators began signaling support for redistricting, Senate leaders acted to stall the effort.
"As senators started coming forward, they actually put the wet blanket on them because they knew it was going to get there," he said.
"That's where the Senate pro tem said they're not even going to gavel into session. The House has already said they've got the votes they need, and they've got to at least do it to put pressure on the Senate."
Braun said the roadblock is coming squarely from Senate leadership, which he argued simply has no interest in tackling the issue.
"This is clearly a Senate leadership group that has no interest in doing this," Braun said.
"They think we're jumping the gun because we're doing it mid-census. Democrats have done this."
Braun pointed to deep structural advantages Democrats have entrenched nationwide.
"Massachusetts, with the same number of electoral votes as us, has been gerrymandered for nearly two decades," he said.
"The six bluest states outside of California have three times the electoral votes of the six reddest states. They don't equivocate about it. And yes, you're condoning big Democratic liberal policies by not at least evening the playing field."
He added: "It's evening the playing field that's at stake."
Stutzman, who represents Indiana's 3rd Congressional District, said he is baffled that some Republicans in the state legislature aren't recognizing the stakes — or the way Democrats aggressively use redistricting to cement power.
"I don't understand it," Stutzman said. "We've had a strong conservative legislature for some time. These senators need to understand that's the fight we're in."
He added that Democrats at the federal level fight much harder — and Republicans need to adapt.
"When you get to the federal level, Democrats are willing to go to the wall for their politics, and they're much better at politics than we have been," Stutzman said.
"President Trump has actually taught us how to fight back."
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