JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The redistricting bill passed by Missouri lawmakers could potentially force longtime U.S. Congressman Emanuel Cleaver out of his seat.

Cleaver has represented Missouri’s fifth Congressional district, which includes Kansas City, since 2005.

On Thursday, Cleaver flew from Washington D.C. to address members of the Missouri Senate committee, where he spoke out against the ongoing redistricting proposal. On Friday, Missouri lawmakers approved the proposal, which now heads to the governor’s desk for review.

Although redistricting typically only occurs once per decade, in tandem with a Census-decade cycle, U.S. President Donald Trump has urged states to redraw their districts mid-cycle, a move that could potentially help Republicans preserve their Congressional majority during the 2026 midterm elections.

Cleaver says Republicans are driving the push for mid-cycle redistricting in an effort to dilute the power of voters, including in his fifth Congressional district.

“Instead of changing the policies, very unpopular policies, they decided to change the district and try to dilute the power of the people who live in that district because they don’t like the way they vote,” said Cleaver in a one-on-one interview Friday with FOX 2. “So they try to bring in new voters. Instead of changing the policies, they simply go on and take a chance at that, so the people in the fifth district simply became collateral in a war on urban politics.”

Cleaver added, “We have polling data which suggests this is extremely unpopular in the state of Missouri with Republicans, Democrats, and Independents, business, labor. They are all saying this makes no sense.”

Cleaver says efforts to redraw Missouri’s districts mid-decade violate the Constitution and have sparked widespread frustration.

Protestors have gathered outside the Missouri Capitol frequently this week in opposition, while the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and a group of citizens have filed separate lawsuits to block the measure.

“Why are you going to damage a congressional district that’s been working fine and is legal. This is the district that was created after the last census, so what [Republicans] are saying is, ‘We don’t care about the Census, we don’t care what the law says.'”

“This is your bulldozer politics, and we’re just going to run over everybody or everything so that we can win another Congressional district for the election next year.”

Cleaver intends to keep challenging Missouri’s push for redistricting, regardless of outcomes from Missouri’s special session and in court.

“I’m going to fight all the way until the court says there’s no reason for the redistricting,” said Cleaver. “And then I’ll just run again for re-election, or I will run for re-election and win in spite of the fact that they created a district for the sole purpose of defeating me.

Below is Cleaver’s full one-on-one interview with FOX 2’s Shirley Washington.