South Carolina Lawmakers Weigh Pay Raise and Possible Redistricting Return

South Carolina state lawmakers, during the 2026 legislative session, advanced a proposal to raise legislator pay for the first time in decades. Separately, House lawmakers debated an end-of-session resolution that would allow the General Assembly to reconvene later in the year specifically to redraw the state's congressional district lines. The redistricting discussion followed a U.S. Supreme Court decision addressing gerrymandering, which created pressure on state lawmakers to revisit South Carolina's congressional map. One report states that President Trump was reportedly pushing lawmakers to pursue a map that would create a seventh Republican congressional seat, though this claim comes from a single source and is not corroborated elsewhere. South Carolina's governor said the decision on whether to act on redistricting rested with the legislature rather than the executive branch. The legislature held extended debate on the matter amid this controversy. As of the reporting, it remained unresolved whether the General Assembly would ultimately reconvene later in the year to take up redistricting, and the final outcome of the pay raise proposal was not specified in available reporting. The specific vote counts, timeline for a potential special session, and final language of the return-session resolution were not detailed in the supplied materials. The claim regarding President Trump's direct involvement and the specific goal of securing a seventh GOP seat is attributed to a single source and remains unconfirmed by additional independent reporting.