The World and Everything in It: April 23, 2026

Editor's note: The following text is a transcript of a podcast story. To listen to the story, click on the arrow beneath the headline above.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning!

A green light for research on psychedelic drugs.

MAKARY: We need the same sense of urgency that we had with HIV to address mental illness.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Also today, pro-lifers work together to fight abortion tourism.

And later, an Iranian-born pastor reacts to the war in his homeland.

NASSER: The people of Iran have been, I like to say, held hostage by these tyrants.

And WORLD Commentator Cal Thomas says redrawing congressional maps takes the country down a dangerous road.

REICHARD: It’s Thursday, April 23rd. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. 

I’m Mary Reichard.

BROWN: And I’m Myrna Brown. Good morning!

REICHARD: Up next, Kent Covington with today’s news.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Iran latest » Iran fired on three cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz Wednesday, seizing two of them.

Revolutionary Guard gunboats fired on a container ship off Oman's coast, damaging its bridge. They hit another vessel hours later.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt:

LEAVITT: Iran has gone from having the most, uh, lethal navy in the Middle East to now acting like a bunch of pirates. They don't have control over the strait. This is piracy that we are seeing on display.

The White House says the seizures don't break the ceasefire because neither ship flies an American or Israeli flag.

About 20 percent of the world's traded oil passes through the strait in peacetime and the threat of Iranian attacks has impacted oil prices globally.

Meantime, peace talks in Pakistan are on ice. President Trump indefinitely extended the ceasefire Tuesday, but Iran refuses to negotiate until the US lifts a naval blockade of its ports.

Leavitt says Washington has all the leverage.

LEAVITT: We are strangling their main source of revenue. They can't pay their own people. They're losing $500 million every single day. Kharg Island is completely full of oil because they can't transport it to and from. So the president, the cards are in his hands.

Trump has not set a deadline for Iran's next move.

Israel latest » Elsewhere in the Middle East:

SOUND: [Independence Day celebrations]

Israel celebrated its Independence Day Wednesday, with a traditional ceremony at the president's Jerusalem residence. Amid the events, officials thanked Israeli servicemembers for their service and reiterated that the Israeli military stands ready to respond to threats.

And speaking of those threats, Israeli officials continue to call on Lebanon to work with the Jewish state to disarm and expel the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar:

SAAR: We don’t have any serious disagreements with Lebanon. There are a few minor border disputes, that can be solved. The obstacle to peace and normalization between the countries is one: Hezbollah.

The current 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, is set to expire on Monday.

Another Senate war powers vote » On Capitol Hill, Senate Democrats failed again Wednesday in their push to force US troops out of the war with Iran.

The chamber voted largely down along party lines, 53-to-47, shooting down the resolution from Senator Chris Murphy.

It's the fifth time Democrats have tried unsuccessfully to limit President Trump’s authority as commander in chief. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer:

SCHUMER: Senate Republicans acquiesced to Donald Trump and gave this historic blunder their stamp of approval.

But Majority Leader John Thune defended the military action:

THUNE: The president is operating under his authority, the Article two branch of the government as commander in Chief, and doing what needs to be done to ensure that America's uh, vital national security interests are preserved and protected.

Schumer vows to force the vote again every week until the war ends or Republicans break with the president.

Budget hearing » Democrats grilled Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Wednesday as he testified before a Senate panel.

He was there to talk about President Trump's fiscal year 2027 budget request. But Delaware Democratic Senator Chris Coons pressed Bessent about the Trump administration pausing sanctions on Iranian oil.

 COONS: You don't have to read the Art of War to know that helping your adversaries gain money while you're at war is a terrible idea. And it's shocking to me that the country's currently profiting from the release of sanctions are our enemies.

Coons asserted that Iran has taken in $14 billion dollars as a result of that sanctions relief. But Bessent said that is not so. And the reason for the pause, he said, is to provide some temporary relief from elevated oil prices:

 BESSENT: I was approached by more than 10 of the most vulnerable and poorest countries in terms the uh, of energy. And they ask us to extend that sanction and it's only for 30 days.

The Trump administration also extended its sanctions pause for Russian oil after the Treasury Secretary had previously ruled it out.

Wildfires » Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has declared a state of emergency across more than half the state. That as wildfires are tearing through southern Georgia and northern Florida.

A fast-moving fire in Brantley County has burned 5,000 acres and destroyed roughly 50 homes and threatened about a thousand others.

That blaze is just 10% contained, forcing evacuations

AUDIO: But this morning we started gathering stuff in one location, taking stuff off the wall, pictures and things we can't replace.

One of nearly a thousand evacuees in Georgia says she’s hoping and praying for the best.

AUDIO: It's more than our house. It's land that my dad bought years ago, and so it's special to me and the thought that it might burn is there's 50 acres there and, and it's like the most beautiful place in the world to me.

Florida firefighters are battling more than a hundred wildfires of their own as drought and winds feed the flames.

Rep. David Scott dies » Congress is mourning the loss of a sitting Democratic lawmaker. His passing was announced on the House floor Wednesday.

AUDIO:  The Chair announces to the House that in light of the passing of the gentleman from Georgia Mr. David Scott the whole number of the House is four thirty.

The 80-year-old congressman was seeking his 13th term in Congress despite challenges from within his party.

Scott’s health had been declining in recent years. His campaign recently dodged questions about his fitness to serve another term.

I'm Kent Covington.

Coming up: are your medical concerns safe with AI? Plus, why redrawing congressional maps is a dangerous game.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: It’s Thursday the 23rd of April.

Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

First up: will psychedelics cure what ails ya?

Researchers will be taking a closer look at hallucinogenic drugs following an executive order signed by President Trump on Saturday.

TRUMP: In many cases, these experimental treatments have shown life changing potential for those suffering from severe mental illness and depression, including our cherished veterans.

BROWN: Advocates—including military veterans and influential podcaster Joe Rogan—welcome the potential for new treatment options for conditions conventional medicine fails to cure.

But critics worry it sends the wrong message and could poison the drug approval process.

WORLD’s Harrison Watters has the story.

HARRISON WATTERS: Jon Kostas had tried just about everything to end his alcohol addiction at age 25.

KOSTAS: It was either this or I knew I was going to die from my drinking…that's how desperate I was.

In 2015, he learned about a clinical trial for psilocybin, a compound derived from hallucinogenic mushrooms. Kostas had lots of questions.

KOSTAS: You know, can I get stuck in a trip?...Is this going to change my personality? Is this going to, you know, I didn't know if this was something similar to lobotomy.

Psychedelics like psilocybin are regulated as Schedule 1 controlled substances, with high potential for abuse and no legitimate medical purpose. They also distort the user's perception of reality for hours or days at a time. But in recent years, researchers have begun studying how psychedelics affect addiction cravings. Kostas took part in a randomized controlled trial under constant medical supervision in a hospital.

KOSTAS: This worked like an antibiotic almost, for me, where I was sick with the disease, I went in, I got treated, and I was fine. I didn't need to treat my disease anymore.

Today, Kostas is Executive Director for the Association for Prescription Psychedelics, advocating for reviewing and legalizing psychedelics for wider use.

President Trump’s executive order puts that goal within reach. It directs the Food and Drug Administration to prioritize reviewing psychedelic compounds that are in the clinical trial pipeline, including psilocybin. The order relies on a program that gives FDA Commissioner Marty Makary the authority to accelerate review and approval.

MAKARY: Under this new program in this administration, drugs can get approved in weeks, not a year or a year plus, but in weeks, if they are in line with our national priorities.

The order also authorizes human trials to research a more obscure drug called ibogaine. It’s made from the bark of a West African shrub, and anecdotal evidence suggests it can provide long-term relief from opioid addiction. After learning about ibogaine’s potential in a recent interview, Joe Rogan says he texted President Trump about it.

ROGAN: The text message came back, “Sounds great. Do you want FDA approval? Let's do it.” Literally that quick.

In a phone call yesterday, Commissioner Makary told WORLD there’s good precedent for getting drugs reviewed and approved quickly.

MAKARY: The fastest FDA approved drug in U.S. history was during the HIV epidemic. Well, we need the same sense of urgency that we had with HIV to address mental illness, PTSD, addiction and other intractable and debilitating mental illnesses.

Not only was the executive order quick, it’s light on details that some say need to be addressed.

Paul Larkin was a Department of Justice attorney and is now a Senior Legal Fellow at the think tank Advancing American Freedom. He’s concerned the order is focused more on satisfying demand than ensuring public health.

LARKIN: All it referred to was getting it through the federal government regulatory approval process as quickly as possible. It didn't mention any of the downsides. And there are some.

In addition to hallucination, research has found that ibogaine specifically can cause cardiac arrest. And in 2024, the FDA found a different psychedelic-assisted treatment for post traumatic stress disorder wasn’t safe and effective.

On Saturday, NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya said scientists cannot take safe psychedelics for granted. That caught President Trump’s attention.

BHATTACHARYA: We still got to figure out sometimes how it works, or why it works, that we got to keep doing even as we move forward fast so—

TRUMP: But it does work?

BHATTACHARYA: Some, some of those, I mean, absolutely, some of those treatments—

VETERAN: Yes, it works.

TRUMP: I’m trying to get an answer because it either works or doesn't, I would think that there's been a lot of research already, indirect research, maybe the ultimate research, people that have taken it…

Larkin and others are concerned that political pressure from the White House is rushing scientific research of drugs that are not yet well understood. But Dr. Makary told WORLD the drug developers still need to demonstrate in multiple rounds of testing that they are safe and effective. Even with approval, he says psychedelics will require careful prescription.

MAKARY: We want to ensure that these are not medications that can simply be picked up at a pharmacy counter or mailed to your home after a telehealth visit. That will not be happening with psychedelics on our watch. We have set clear conditions by which these drugs would be administered in a medical setting and administered safely.

It’s now up to FDA researchers to discern if psychedelic treatments are truly good medicine and not just good politics.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Harrison Watters.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Up next, pro-lifers in New Mexico fight an abortion facility under construction.

In recent years, the state has become a destination for women seeking abortions.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Now pro-lifers have formed a new coalition that they hope will help turn around that trend.

WORLD’s Lauren Canterberry has the story.

LAUREN CANTERBERRY: When Bennie Gonzales joined the Knights of Columbus chapter in Santa Fe, New Mexico, last spring, he had one goal.

BENNIE GONZALES: I actually joined the knights because I was always interested and my wife was interested in supporting the pro-life movement.

Other members of the Catholic brotherhood also wanted to support the local fight to save unborn babies.

They set up a meeting with about a dozen pro-life leaders from around the state.

GONZALES: They’re the ones that really understand the issues, the problems.

A pattern in the discussion quickly developed.

GONZALES: We asked them, what was the number one threat right now. And it was unanimous. All the people who were there said this construction in southern New Mexico, Las Cruces.

A $10 million state-funded building that, if completed, will become an abortion hub. Abortionists there will perform chemical and surgical abortions, and the facility will partner with the University of New Mexico to train abortionists.

In 2022, pro-abortion Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed an executive order directing the state to set aside funding for the facility. Lawmakers then voted to fund what they’re calling the Center for Reproductive Health.

JESSICA SIFUENTES: The facade is, it’s a medical center.

Jessica Sifuentes is the CEO and president of the Southwest Coalition for Life. She says the state has been intentionally vague about the plans when seeking bids. Southwest Coalition for Life has worked to stop the construction in Las Cruces by telling contractors what the facility actually is.

SIFUENTES: Once they had the full context of what this build was going to entail, what this facility was going to ultimately become, they started to pull out and no one was bidding.

Work on the facility started in 2024, but ground to a halt when the state could not even find someone willing to pour the cement.

Then, earlier this year, Sifuentes and her team noticed crews working on the foundation. Workers on site told pro-lifers they had been explicitly ordered not to discuss the project.

SIFUENTES: It’s very, very hush hush. I don’t know what happened, if they reached out to a new group of contractors, but somebody has definitely taken the bid, and we are trying to figure out who that is.

A University of New Mexico spokesman confirmed to WORLD that the facility is slated to open early next year.

New Mexico does not protect unborn babies at any stage of pregnancy. Dominique Davis leads Project Defending Life, and she says the governor has leaned into the state’s identity as an abortion tourism destination.

DOMINIQUE DAVIS: We know that this is a strategic location for the governor to provide abortions to women from Texas and migrant women coming across the border.

Las Cruces sits about 50 miles northwest of El Paso, Texas, where babies are protected from abortion in nearly all cases.

Some women also come from pro-life Oklahoma. Now, the legislature has granted another request from Governor Lujan Grisham to fund an abortion facility in the northern part of the state.

DAVIS: These are two huge threats to the health and safety of, really, women and men, but especially women and their unborn child.

Sifuentes and Davis have shared ideas on how to work together to protect babies in their state.

DAVIS: We have tried to unite on several fronts as a pro-life community in New Mexico for well over a decade.

Earlier this month, the pro-life leaders reconvened in Albuquerque to sign the Spiritual Defense Coalition Unity Agreement - a binding commitment for the members to pray together and collaborate.

One of the signatories was not from New Mexico. Chuck Hurley came down from Iowa.

HURLEY: They’re facing a Goliath right out of the gate with this gigantic abortion facility.

Hurley is a member of the Hawkeye State’s pro-life coalition. A 2017 agreement there served as the basis for the one in New Mexico.

He says collaborating helped advocates turn Iowa from staunchly pro-abortion to far more protective of unborn babies. He hopes to see the same thing happen in New Mexico.

HURLEY: They’ll need to encourage one another, receive encouragement from outsiders.

Meanwhile, plans for both proposed abortion centers continue to move forward, as do the plans to fight them.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Lauren Canterberry.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Up next, medical help from artificial intelligence.

A new Gallup Poll shows that a quarter of Americans have used AI for medical information or advice.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Most people are using it to supplement their doctor’s visit, either before or after.

But some are using it in lieu of a provider.

So just how much can AI do, and what happens to all of that health data? WORLD’s Mary Muncy has the story.

MARY MUNCY: OpenAI says over 230 million people ask ChatGPT health questions every week.

TIKTOK: ChatGPT guessed my chronic illness before doctors and it was right.

TIKTOK: I asked ChatGPT to analyze my blood test results and it didn’t hold back… ChatGPT then gave me a list of recommendations.

Some check symptoms with tools like ChatGPT or Claude. Others upload lab or scan results to see if models can catch things their doctors didn’t.

According to the Gallup poll, about one in four people who used AI for medical purposes say it helped them identify issues earlier than they would have otherwise. About one in five say it helped them avoid unnecessary tests.

Anthropic is currently working on a health-specific Claude model and partnering with doctors to create in-hospital systems. Amazon has released its own AI health system, and in January, OpenAI announced it’s working on ChatGPT Health. Here’s a user in a marketing video.

OPENAI: Of course, you can go to the doctor and they can prescribe medication but there is so much more that I can do to help with my care as well. I can take a picture of the plate before and after the meal and it will calculate the calories and the inflammation score for that meal.

It’s a big market to tap. Health apps generated 3.5 billion dollars last year, doing things like tracking food and sleep, and giving training insights.

The creators of the AI platforms say their new health-specific spin-offs will have increased privacy protections and more specific medical information to draw on.

ANANT MADABHUSHI: What they're really good at is addressing a number of very different problems.

Anant Madabhushi is a professor of biomedical engineering at Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology.

MADABHUSHI: For instance, it can tell you about a dog’s preferred diet, and also potentially read an ultrasound scan of a thyroid and sort of give a prediction.

But that doesn’t mean AI platforms will be able to replace a physician. Madabhushi says AI models have been exposed to a large amount of disparate data, so they are not experts in any given thing. That causes hallucinations, and when it’s inaccurate, often no one knows why, or how to fix it.

And, Madabhushi says, just because a model was trained on medical information, doesn’t mean it has all of the facts.

For example, the United Kingdom’s Biobank is one of the largest publicly available health data sets in the world. But almost all of the participants are caucasian.

MADABHUSHI: And that's a problem because we know, for instance, in the South Asian population that the cardio phenotype, the diabetes phenotype, is markedly different compared to people of European ancestry.

So while AI may be able to help, it’s still a best practice to consult a doctor about any results it spits out.

Hospitals already use some AI platforms and expect more to come. Madabhushi and his team are currently working on AI systems to help identify cancer. But those in-hospital platforms are held to a higher standard because of the laws regulating medical equipment and privacy.

Platforms outside of the hospital are a different story because they’re not covered by HIPAA, or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

PAUL ROTHERMEL: It's really focused on particular entities… that includes healthcare providers, health insurers, and then sort of these in between data brokers.

Paul Rothermel is an attorney with the Gardner Law firm. He specializes in digital healthcare privacy.

Right now, 20 states have laws that cover health data outside of the hospital setting. But people outside of those states who share health data with platforms not covered by HIPAA are at the mercy of a company’s privacy policy.

ROTHERMEL: It's not that I don't necessarily trust that very likely ChatGPT or Google or, you know, name, the system probably has good security controls… but I certainly have my concerns about how able they are to control the use of that information once it's embedded there.

Rothermel says there aren’t specific laws barring an insurance company from buying health data and using it to determine premiums. It’s only useful if it can be verified and is lawfully obtained, but still, he says, if you’re going to share health data, it’s important to make sure it’s anonymous.

For now, broad use of artificial intelligence inside and outside of the hospital is still new, and technology is moving faster than legislation.

ROTHERMEL: The more that we see kind of states stepping in, I think that'll elevate some of the discussion around what's legal, who's liable, and so forth.

That means for now, consumers are left to balance data risks with the hope of more health information.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Mary Muncy.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Out on the water near Seattle, a close call.

A harbor seal chased by a pod of killer whales.

AUDIO: Oh, you poor thing!

It made a desperate move, leaping from the water.

AUDIO: He is on our boat!

The whales didn’t give up.

They circled, surfaced, even tried to rock the boat.

At one point:

AUDIO: He fell in?

He fell in.

He’s back on, he’s back on!

And for a while, a standoff.

Then the whales moved on and the boat headed for safer water.

AUDIO: All right, bye, buddy!

Sometimes survival is just a matter of finding a place to stand.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Thursday, April 23rd.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: Praying for Freedom

The 1979 Revolution in Iran transformed the country almost overnight. It went from a monarchy with pro-Western values to an Islamic theocracy with a stated disdain for the West. Audio from ABC News:

REPORTER: The news spread with the speed of the human shout “Shah farari shod” the people cried. “The Shaw has escaped.” There is still a strong sentiment against American interests in Iran.

An estimated 1 million people left the country and never returned.

BROWN: In 1979, David Nasser was just nine years old. His father was a Shiite Muslim who was high-ranking in the military. The family fled the country and settled in the U.S. Nasser eventually became a Christian, then a pastor and author. But he still calls the country he left 47 years ago “home.”

DAVID NASSER: I woke up in the morning on that particular Saturday about two months ago with my phone having over 100 text messages from friends who had woken up, I guess, before me and turned on their televisions and seen the news. And when you're a pastor, and I guess you're the only Iranian a lot of them know, they find your number and text you. Some of them were Ezekiel 38 prophecies coming true. Some of them were, I'm praying for you and you have family back home. And so it was interesting because we have been praying for 47 years. The people of Iran have been, I like to say, held hostage by these tyrants. 90 million Iranians, held hostage by these religious tyrants who have the IRGC and these mullahs. And we've been praying for a long time for an opportunity for them to be liberated. So in one sense, it was terrifying because you're hearing about people that you know and care about being under attack. But in another sense, it was exciting because you knew that Israel and America were not attacking Iran for their detriment, but for their betterment to actually help liberate them.

BROWN: Did it at all take you back to 1979 when, as I said, you were nine years old and you and your family were fleeing Iran during that violent revolution?

NASSER: It really did. It took me back in the sense that it had a lot of the hints of the same instability, fear, religion, the wrong kind of it. Honestly, I kept thinking about the nine-year-old little boys that didn't get to escape. The nine-year-old little boys who didn't have afforded to them the things that were afforded to me. I keep thinking about, like, I was given the American dream, and the best part of it being that it afforded me a chance to hear the gospel here in America and to come to Christ. And so yeah, it brought me back to the reality that maybe now some of the things that were afforded to me when I was nine can be afforded to the nine-year-old little boys that are right now in Iran.

BROWN: You sort of touched on this. I want to talk a little bit more about now that this regime is in chaos. I mean, does that bring you some closure? You talked a little about some grief or something more complicated.

NASSER: Yeah, I think you mourn places that you miss the most. Sometimes you're kind of happy to leave a job that you didn't love, or you're kind of happy to break up with a guy who was destructive, if you're dating somebody who you shouldn't have been dating in the first place. We loved Iran. I still have a heart for the people of Iran. My life in Iran for the first nine years of my life were a charmed life. My earliest memories of Iran look very different than the pictures people see on TV of Iran. It was a westernized world. I have vivid memories of people in a park holding hands and having ice cream and going to cafes. And my mom never wore a chador to cover her hair. So you lose all of that, you have to hold things loosely when you're running for your life. But in another sense, everything that we held and we left was not life changing for us. And what we gained in being able to find refuge in America, I'm strongly patriotic because of what this country has afforded me, but also even greater than that, our citizenship in heaven and finding Christ as a family would have not happened had we not left.

BROWN: I have heard you say the man on the street, to speak, sentiment in Iran right now is gratitude towards the United States. What else can you tell us about that?

NASSER: Obviously no one can speak for 90 million people collectively. However, we have so much family back home. But one cousin that keeps coming to my mind is one of my cousins who has MS. And their family actually lives close by the Russian embassy in Iran. And so I just have concerns for their safety. You know, and I know everything's elevated because of her health. And so when there's power outages for days upon days, or when the stores aren't even open for them to be able to grab necessities like they normally are, when we hear about even greater sanctions and those different kind of things, those things push down on them. But at the same time, I've been praying for their liberation. But the cost of that is expensive. This democracy is going to cost a lot. And so yeah, for our family, it's the most expensive back home. And so this is more than just a people out there. These are people that we know personally, and I think I'm speaking for many of them, I would say the overwhelming majority of them, that they're thankful for allied help. And they don't see this as like the Trump administration versus the Biden administration. Man, when you're drowning, whoever's gonna throw you a life jacket, you're gonna grab it. They're thankful for them. They're just thankful that someone's coming along to help them push. This is their fight to fight. Ultimately, the freedom of the Iranian people is gonna be based on the Iranian people having to actually fight this good fight. And by the way, talk about a lion spirit, or the women of Iran, the lioness spirit. Come on, they got it in them to do the fight. However, if somebody wants to come grab the rope and help you pull in the same direction, let's go. And so I think the overwhelming sentiment is gratitude.

REICHARD: You can hear more of David Nasser’s story on a special weekend edition of The World and Everything in It. You can find it Saturday wherever you get this podcast.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. Virginia voters this week approved a controversial plan to redraw congressional districts—one that could reshape the balance of power in Washington. WORLD commentator Cal Thomas says the result settles more than a map.

CAL THOMAS: What was once a warning is now a fact.

Virginia voters have approved a mid-decade redistricting plan, by a bare majority vote 51% to 49. The result will redraw the state’s congressional boundaries from a 6 House seats-to-5 Democratic advantage into a commanding 10 seats-to-1.

Governor Abigail Spanberger defended the move this way:

SPANBERGER: Whether or not they wanted to take this temporary, responsive path forward… the majority voted to move forward with the referendum.

A temporary action, the governor says. Merely a response to what Republicans have done elsewhere, she argues.

But Republicans see something very different.

House GOP Leader Steve Scalise—who may soon see his majority dwindle—put it this way:

SCALISE: It’s a blatant abuse of power to disenfranchise millions of Virginia voters…

Those are the competing claims.

On one side: a necessary response.

On the other: a power grab.

What cannot be disputed is the result.

This was not the once-a-decade redistricting that follows the census. This was a mid-cycle redraw—triggered not by population changes, but by political opportunity.

The narrow 51-49 margin matters.

It suggests not a broad consensus, but a deeply divided electorate—one now bound by a map that could determine representation through the end of the decade.

Supporters argue this is democracy in action. Sure, but a majority vote does not settle every question.

It does not answer whether changing electoral rules in the middle of the game strengthens public trust … or weakens it.

It does not answer whether each new escalation by one party justifies the next escalation by the other.

And it does not answer what happens when both sides decide that principle takes a back seat to power.

It must be said this did not begin in Virginia. President Trump urged Republicans in Texas to redraw districts to their advantage. California followed. Now Virginia.

On CNN election night, Republican strategist Shermichael Singleton warned:

SINGLETON: Republican states are going to do the same thing, and Democrats should not be surprised if there’s one congressional district or if there are zero congressional districts, because that is where we are now.

He may be right, and Florida may be next.

Each move will be defended as necessary. Each one raising the stakes.

At some point, the question is no longer who started it.

The question is where it ends.

Redistricting is supposed to happen every ten years. That is the constitutional rhythm.

What we are seeing now is something else entirely—a rolling, partisan rewrite of the map, driven not by voters moving, but by politicians maneuvering.

When that becomes the norm, voters may begin to wonder whether their choices matter or whether the outcomes have already been drawn for them.

The courts may yet have a say. Republicans are already promising challenges.

But for now, Virginia has spoken.

The lines will change. And so will the expectations—about how far each party is willing to go when power is within reach.

For WORLD, I’m Cal Thomas.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Tomorrow: John Stonestreet joins us for Culture Friday. And, exploring the link between science and faith. We’ll have an interview with author Stephen Meyer. 

That and more tomorrow. I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

The World and Everything in It comes to you from WORLD Radio. WORLD’s mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates, and inspires.

The Bible records the words of Jesus: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” —John 10:27–30

Go now in grace and peace.

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