Bennie Thompson sat in that chair in 2022 and called January 6 a "coup" on national television.
Now a Republican governor just announced the move that could end Thompson's congressional career for good.
And Thompson has the Supreme Court – the one he spent years attacking – to thank for it.
The Mississippi Redistricting Plan That Could End His Career
Bennie Thompson has held Mississippi's 2nd Congressional District since 1993.
He chaired the House Homeland Security Committee, then led Nancy Pelosi’s sham January 6 Select Committee – and spent years trying to put Donald Trump behind bars.
He is the most powerful Democrat in the state of Mississippi.
And he may soon have no seat left to sit in.
Thompson has never faced a competitive general election. His district is majority-black and so reliably Democrat that Republicans don't even bother mounting a real challenge.
No Republican has beaten him in 33 years – because no Republican could. The only way to remove him is to remove the district itself.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves dropped the news Friday: he is calling a special legislative session, set to convene 21 days after the U.S. Supreme Court rules in Louisiana v. Callais – a case that could permanently reshape how states draw congressional maps.
The moment that ruling lands, Mississippi Republicans will have an opening to do what they've never been able to do before: draw Thompson's district out of existence entirely and deliver a 4-0 Republican congressional delegation from a state Trump won by more than 16 points.
Louisiana v. Callais and the Voting Rights Act Rule That Kept Him Safe
The January 6 committee launched as the Democrats' weapon to destroy Trump's political future.
The Supreme Court is about to end Thompson’s.
Here's the short version: a 1965 law called the Voting Rights Act forced Southern states to draw congressional districts specifically designed to elect black Democrats – regardless of whether the rest of the state wanted them.
Thompson's seat was built on that law and has survived because of it.
The Supreme Court is now deciding whether that law is constitutional at all.
The court's conservative majority has already telegraphed exactly where they're going – and it isn't toward protecting Thompson's seat.
Mississippi Republicans have already done the math. Every redrawn district goes Trump +22 or higher. Mississippi goes 4-0 Republican. Thompson's seat disappears off the map with no legal challenge to stop it.
Tate Reeves Just Gave Republicans the Roadmap to Remove Him
There's a certain justice in how this landed.
Thompson didn't just chair the January 6 committee – he used it as a platform to demand the Supreme Court be packed, to call constitutional protections for Trump "lawless," and to build the political case that America's institutions needed to be reshaped to stop conservatives from winning.
Now those same institutions are delivering a result he didn't see coming.
The Supreme Court's conservative majority – the one Democrats spent years trying to delegitimize – is poised to hand Republicans the legal authority to redraw maps across the South.
Reeves made clear he intends to move fast. He announced the special session the moment Democrats in Virginia tipped their hand on redistricting, signaling to every red-state governor that the gloves are off.
The next opinion day at the Supreme Court is April 29. A final decision in Louisiana v. Callais is expected before the court's term ends in June.
When it drops, Mississippi Republicans will have 21 days to redraw the map.
Thompson's J6 chairmanship, his crusade against Trump, his 33 years in Congress – none of it saves him if the lines move.
If he wants to stay in Congress at all, he'd have to run in a redrawn district that goes Trump +22 or higher and spend the campaign courting Trump voters after he tried to throw the President in prison.
He spent three years trying to end Trump's career. The Supreme Court may be about to return the favor.
Sources:
- Breanne Deppisch, "Mississippi governor says he will call special session to redraw district maps after SCOTUS ruling," Fox News, April 25, 2026.
- Matt Margolis, "Mississippi's Governor Just Made a Boss Move to Win on Redistricting," PJ Media, April 25, 2026.
- Cullen McCue, "New: Red State Governor Announces Redistricting Plan," Trending Politics, April 25, 2026.
- Staff, "Buckle Up, Mississippi: Governor Tate Reeves Drops Big News After Virginia's Gerrymandering Vote," Twitchy, April 25, 2026.
- Staff, "Bennie Thompson," Ballotpedia, accessed April 26, 2026.
