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Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News.

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Speaker 2: This is a breaking news outdate from Bloomberg. Instant reaction

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Speaker 2: and analysis from our three thousand journalists and analysts around

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Speaker 2: the world.

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Speaker 3: Supreme Court ruling today herbs the use of race and

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Speaker 3: drawing voting districts. Let's get some perspective on what all

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Speaker 3: this means. June Grosso is our legal analyst at Bloomberg. Here,

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Speaker 3: do you talk to us about just the background of

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Speaker 3: this case and then maybe what we may know about

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Speaker 3: this ruling here?

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Speaker 4: So, I mean, the Voting Rights Act has been under

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Speaker 4: fire for, you know, such such a long time, and

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Speaker 4: the Roberts Court has been very receptive to sort of

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Speaker 4: destroying I'll use the word destroying the Voting Rights Act.

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Speaker 4: In twenty eighteen, I believe it was they took one

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Speaker 4: part of the Act, which required pre clear certain states

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Speaker 4: that had a history considered to have a history of

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Speaker 4: racism Texas, etca. Certain states in the South would have

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Speaker 4: to get preclearance before they redistricted, before their plans were approved.

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Speaker 4: They took away that and now this is really the

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Speaker 4: other significant part of the Voting Rights Act, the remaining

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Speaker 4: part of the Voting Rights Act, which was passed in

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Speaker 4: nineteen sixty five to address discrimination against black votes.

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Speaker 2: And I'll just read a line from what.

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Speaker 4: The dissenting opinion of Justice Elena Keig and the three

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Speaker 4: Liberals are in Descent said, under the Court's new view

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Speaker 4: of Section two of the Voting Rights Act, a state can,

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Speaker 4: without legal consequence, systematically dilute minority citizens voting power. Of course,

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Speaker 4: the majority does not announce today's holding that way, but

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Speaker 4: it's understated, even antiseptic. So I mean, this is really consequential,

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Speaker 4: and it's consequential for I think the Republicans, you know,

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Speaker 4: holding the House. If some of this, if some of

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Speaker 4: these states can district before the mid terms, I mean,

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Speaker 4: I don't know if that would be possible as far

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Speaker 4: as timing, but it really, it really is consequential for

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Speaker 4: voting rights.

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Speaker 2: And the Court has, you.

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Speaker 4: Know, systematically the years you hear them say, well, you know,

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Speaker 4: we're so far away from the time of the Voting

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Speaker 4: Rights Act, and there isn't I mean, I think Justice

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Speaker 4: Roberts was the one who said in Shelby County, you know,

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Speaker 4: we don't have that kind of discrimination anymore. So we

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Speaker 4: don't and how long can we keep doing this? How

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Speaker 4: long can we keep having these rules that prioritize, you know,

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Speaker 4: race in voting districts. So it's I think it's it's

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Speaker 4: a stunning decision. Although the Court has been heading in

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Speaker 4: this way for a long time. I think a lot

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Speaker 4: of people hope that they wouldn't get to it at

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Speaker 4: this point.

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Speaker 2: But so, you know, it's really consequential. It's consequential.

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Speaker 1: And you go back to the Voting Rights Act that

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Speaker 1: you mentioned and how this is kind of part of

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Speaker 1: the dismantling of it.

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Speaker 4: What is left of the Voting Rights Act right now?

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Speaker 4: You know, I don't think there's much left of it.

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Speaker 4: I have to get an expert to because the two

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Speaker 4: big the two biggest sections were the section that was

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Speaker 4: eliminated or you know, gut it in in the Shelby

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Speaker 4: County case, and then this section. So I don't think

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Speaker 4: there's much left of the Voting Rights Act.

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Speaker 3: How are districts drawn up in the first place?

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Speaker 2: I mean, that's my question. That is a great question.

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Speaker 4: Well, jerry mandering have you seen have you seen that

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Speaker 4: some of the like even if you look in Louisiana.

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Speaker 4: In order to get to keep the House speaker in

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Speaker 4: a Republican district.

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Speaker 2: You know, they have these odd shapes that you.

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Speaker 4: Would never imagine, you know, different kinds of weird shape,

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Speaker 4: so they can get in people that they want.

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Speaker 2: It's it's it's political at this point. It's you know,

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Speaker 2: and you.

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Speaker 4: Know, the Democratic states do it as well. The Republican

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Speaker 4: states do it as well. And it's you know, it's just.

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Speaker 3: The my old district in New Jersey, which we since

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Speaker 3: moved from. I finally saw it on a drawn somewhere

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Speaker 3: and it was unbelievably.

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Speaker 2: It's just a bunch of squiggly lines everywhere.

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Speaker 3: They figure that out because having lived there, like, that's

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Speaker 3: not how I think of my area, this town.

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Speaker 2: You know, No, it's been Kerry paig test. I mean,

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Speaker 2: they have people who do this for a living.

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Speaker 4: You know, they have also they have all kinds of

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Speaker 4: you know, electronic ways of doing it. But if you

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Speaker 4: look at this, I mean, the one in Louisiana looks.

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Speaker 2: Like a sliver up the coast.

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Speaker 4: I mean, it's but all the states, and you know,

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Speaker 4: there's the only thing that has happened is but only

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Speaker 4: in Democratic states.

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Speaker 2: They've had.

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Speaker 4: Maps drawn by commissions, So in that way you get

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Speaker 4: a fair map because it's drawn by a commission with

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Speaker 4: maybe equal representatives.

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Speaker 2: But only democratic states have.

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Speaker 4: Done that, and that's put them in a bad position,

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Speaker 4: which is why you have some states like California redistricting

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Speaker 4: in a different way, not using the commission. So the

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Speaker 4: way to do it is to, you know, have a commission.

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Speaker 4: But when when you let Republicans or Democrats do it,

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Speaker 4: they're going to do it to their own advantage. And

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Speaker 4: it's it's so easy for them to raw maps and

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Speaker 4: just eliminate certain you know, minority populations.

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Speaker 2: It's it's a mess. It's a mess. Really, it's just

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Speaker 2: a mess. So let me ask a really dumb question.

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Speaker 1: When the Supreme Court rules makes a ruling like this,

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Speaker 1: people jump int action right away, right, I mean this

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Speaker 1: has immediate consequences.

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Speaker 2: Well yeah, well I think what will happen.

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Speaker 4: Is, yes, states will start looking at this and deciding

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Speaker 4: what to do.

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Speaker 2: And Louisiana certainly is going to jump into action.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, because what they're going to do is, you know

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Speaker 4: the politics of it. They're going to start looking at

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Speaker 4: their maps and seeing what they can do and how

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Speaker 4: they can use their power as legislators to redraw the maps.

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Speaker 4: I mean, I just think this is opening up a

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Speaker 4: can of worms that you know, the implications are just

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Speaker 4: are just crazy. I think as far as what's going

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Speaker 4: to happen next, because you know, you see that what's

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Speaker 4: happening Florida is trying to redraw its maps without.

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Speaker 2: Even this decision. So you know, we've come.

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Speaker 4: To the point where are we going to have democratic

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Speaker 4: states with all democratic districts and Republicans states with all

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Speaker 4: Republican districts.

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Speaker 2: It's just it's sort of mind boggling. I'm still stunned

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Speaker 2: by this.

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Speaker 1: Does this change any of what California voter has just

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Speaker 1: decided or what Virginia voters decided.

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Speaker 4: No, I don't think this has anything to do with that,

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Speaker 4: because that was a separate I think that California, in

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Speaker 4: the California Texas passed the Supreme Court. I think California

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Speaker 4: may have passed the Supreme Court as well. They're saying

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Speaker 4: that wasn't based on race, that was based on politics,

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Speaker 4: and it's okay to jerrymander based on politics. So think

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Speaker 4: about that. Think of it's okay to jerrymander based on politics.

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Speaker 4: So you know, Republicans and Democrats are fine, or they're

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Speaker 4: allowed to go in and jerrymander based on politics. Before

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Speaker 4: this decision, it was just you couldn't jerrymander based on race,

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Speaker 4: And now you can jerrymander basically based on race, no

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Speaker 4: matter what the Supreme Court said in its majority opinion.

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Speaker 3: What's left for the Supreme Court this session here? I

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Speaker 3: mean this is a one.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: The big case, the case that we're away for at

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Speaker 4: Ploomberg is the case of the attempted firing by President

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Speaker 4: Trump of Lisa Cook, the Fed Fed Reserve governor. And

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Speaker 4: the thing is that every week that it's opinion day,

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Speaker 4: we expect that case to come out because it was

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Speaker 4: argued so long ago and because it seemed like the

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Speaker 4: Justices were on board with not.

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Speaker 2: Allowing her to be fired.

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Speaker 4: But it's taking so long that you start to wonder

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Speaker 4: what's happening. Is it because they were writing a lot

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Speaker 4: of concurrences and descents, you know, White's Is it because

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Speaker 4: they're having a hard time distinguishing, as they want to

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Speaker 4: the FED chair from other other board members that he's fired.

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Speaker 4: So is that what's taking them long? Are they just

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Speaker 4: holding it?

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Speaker 2: That's what I think.

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Speaker 3: I think they're just good programmers and they're holding their

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Speaker 3: juiciest one for you.

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Speaker 2: They they don't, They say they don't, but I don't.

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Speaker 4: I really don't believe that, because it's it's no coincidence

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Speaker 4: that all these controversial cases come down the last day

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Speaker 4: of the term.

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Speaker 2: So when it is the last the term, well it's

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Speaker 2: a movable date. Okay. It used to be the very

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Speaker 2: end of June, huh, and then they would go on vacation.

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Speaker 4: But it's now we've had a couple of times where

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Speaker 4: it went into July because they couldn't get their stuff

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Speaker 4: finished and they had so many late breaking.

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Speaker 2: Opinions.

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Speaker 4: There used to be I mean, there's a story about

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Speaker 4: a justice that used to have his car waiting outside

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Speaker 4: the court the last day so they could drive him

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Speaker 4: to you know, his vacations. But then they all disappear

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Speaker 4: and go to different, you know, different locations for the summer.

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Speaker 2: I want to bring in.

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Speaker 3: Michael McKee covers all the economics and international aspects of

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Speaker 3: our reporting for a Bloomberg Boy. We just had a

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Speaker 3: Supreme Court ruling which has obviously political ramifications for this country,

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Speaker 3: maybe economics as well. What's your initial take of the

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Speaker 3: Supreme Court ruling here?

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Speaker 5: Well, the ruling sets the stage for states to redraw

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Speaker 5: congressional districts.

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Speaker 2: But the question is do they have time to do that?

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Speaker 5: In some states where they have a number of black

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Speaker 5: men or districts, it's already too late because filing deadlines

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Speaker 5: for primaries have already passed. The issue is how many

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Speaker 5: states could still do it. One expects that Louisiana would try,

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Speaker 5: But the question, the secondary question is then how far

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Speaker 5: do they get with this, because if you draw the districts,

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Speaker 5: you know somebody is going to complain to the courts

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Speaker 5: about it goes back into the court system to question

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Speaker 5: whether the new maps are discriminatory in one way or another.

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Speaker 5: It does have a long term foundational impact, however, and

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Speaker 5: that it dilutes minority voting power in the sense that

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Speaker 5: you can't create a district that is basically guaranteed to

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Speaker 5: elect a minority, and that would be a question of

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Speaker 5: disenfranchisement for a lot of people. And the kind of

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Speaker 5: deal that many states made that they would never admit

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Speaker 5: is that we'll give you your own minority district and

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Speaker 5: then we will be able to use the rest of

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Speaker 5: the state for our own white majority districts. And most

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Speaker 5: states Republican districts. So at this point there could be

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Speaker 5: a shift in the balance of power in some states

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Speaker 5: once they can get around to actually changing their congressional districts.

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Speaker 1: Boy, this gets messy really quickly. Effect of this kind

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Speaker 1: of decision. Was this a surprise the way that Supreme

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Speaker 1: Court ruled, No, it's.

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Speaker 2: Not at all.

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Speaker 5: In fact that legal and political analysts had been expecting

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Speaker 5: this for quite some time. The Court has not liked

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Speaker 5: the Voting Rights Act for many years. Chief Justice Roberts

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Speaker 5: has said that while it was useful at one time,

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Speaker 5: it cannot be permanent law because many of the states

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Speaker 5: and many of the aspects of the Voting Rights Act

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Speaker 5: have been you'd say, cured, taken care of. People can vote,

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Speaker 5: poll taxes are gone, that sort of thing. So they've

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Speaker 5: been gutting it one section at a time. This is

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Speaker 5: Section two and now it is gone. So the Voting

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Speaker 5: Rights Act itself is not worth much anymore. But that

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Speaker 5: was expected, and that's why you have a lot of lawyers,

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Speaker 5: especially on the Democratic side, waiting to pounce on any

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Speaker 5: new districts redrawn to see if they can make the

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Speaker 5: case that they discriminate in one way or another and

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Speaker 5: aren't fair