Democrats have filed an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to halt a redistricting rule by Virginia's top court. The state court had invalidated a ballot measure that would have given Virginia Democrats an additional four winnable U.S. House seats. Virginia voters narrowly approved a constitutional amendment last month that let Democrats redraw political lines in time for the November elections. That move was in response to mid-decade redistricting in Republican states pressured by President Donald Trump. The appeal is a long shot because the Supreme Court tries to avoid second-guessing how state courts interpret their state constitutions.

Lawmakers in several southern states will be meeting this week to consider redistricting plans in response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that weakened the Voting Rights Act. Republican Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has called legislators into a special session starting Monday that could enable a new date for congressional primaries. Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee has announced a special session starting Tuesday to redraw the state's U.S. House districts. And Louisiana lawmakers also are in session to consider how to redraw districts after the Supreme Court struck down a majority Black district in the state.

A Supreme Court decision striking down a majority Black congressional district in Louisiana has amplified an already intense national redistricting battle. The court's ruling Wednesday limits the use of race in drawing voting districts. In response, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry has suspended the state's May 16 congressional primary to allow time for state lawmakers to draw new House districts. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has called a special session to start Monday in case the Supreme Court allows the state to change its U.S. House districts. President Donald Trump also is urging Tennessee officials to redraw House districts to try to gain another seat for Republicans.

Do you prefer to pay income taxes or sales taxes? Missouri voters will get to choose in a unique ballot question later this year. A proposed constitutional amendment will give people the option of gradually eliminating the individual income tax in exchange for the possibility that lawmakers could expand the sales tax to more services. This marks the first time a U.S. state legislature has asked voters to make such a choice. Kentucky, Mississippi and Oklahoma also recently passed laws that could phase out their income tax if revenue benchmarks are met. But those didn't go to voters.

President Donald Trump has railed against a federal judge's decision that continues to block above-ground construction of a $400 million White House ballroom. The decision on Thursday allows only below-ground work on a bunker and other "national security facilities" at the site. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington issued his latest ruling Thursday in a lawsuit over the ballroom project several days after an appeals court instructed him to reconsider the possible national security implications of stopping construction. Leon said he is ordering a stop only to the above-ground construction of the planned ballroom, apart from any work needed to cover or secure that part of the project.

A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to suspend construction of a $400 million ballroom after it demolished the East Wing of the White House. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington granted a preservationist group's request for a preliminary injunction that temporarily halts President Donald Trump's White House ballroom project. Leon wrote that the president is a steward of the White House, not its owner. The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued to obtain an order pausing the ballroom project until it undergoes multiple independent reviews and receives congressional approval.

In a rare bipartisan effort for a deeply divided Congress, the Senate has passed a broad bill to make U.S. housing more accessible and affordable. The bill passed on Thursday would reduce regulations, regulate corporate investors and expand how housing dollars can be used to build affordable homes and rentals. It now heads back to the House, which passed a separate version earlier this year. It is unclear whether President Donald Trump would sign it after declaring last weekend that he won't sign any new measures unless Congress passes legislation that would require voters to show proof of citizenship.