The White House is inviting Republican Kansas lawmakers to Washington D.C for a state leadership conference intended to address how they can advance the Trump agenda.
The meeting, organized by the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, is set for Oct. 15 at Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
It is believed that invitations were sent to every Republican member of the Kansas Legislature, although the event is limited to only 80 legislators.
House Speaker Dan Hawkins and Senate Ty Masterson plan to attend the event.
“This conference is an opportunity for Kansas elected officials to hear firsthand how President Trump is implementing the America First Agenda and how you can partner with the Administration to advance it at the state and local level,” the invitation says.
“Featured speakers and guests include cabinet secretaries, senior White House Officials, and members of the White House Domestic Policy Council,” the invitation says.
There will be a question-and-answer session after each speaker, along with representatives from agencies and departments from across the Trump administration.
“Come prepared to ask questions,” the invitation said.
Hawkins said in a statement he wants to discuss Gov. Laura Kelly’s refusal to submit food-assistant data to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and how the “One Big Beautiful Bill” benefits Kansas.
“I look forward to meeting with the Trump administration to discuss matters of importance at both the federal and state level,” he said.
The invitation says nothing about Trump’s efforts to get states to draw election districts for members of Congress, but there’s a lot of speculation about whether the issue will surface.
A group of Nebraska lawmakers was set to attend a similar type of leadership conference Tuesday, and the national political publication Axios suggested that it would give the president’s aides the opportunity to discuss the possibility of redistricting.
“State by state, district by district, President Trump wants to draw as many new likely GOP seats as possible ahead of the midterm election,” Axios reported. “Nebraska and Kansas might be next in the gerrymandering line.”
Alex Meyer, director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, signed off on the invitation sent to Republican Kansas lawmakers.
Meyer’s name has surfaced in stories about the White House pressuring state lawmakers in Indiana to draw new election boundaries.
Politico reported that Meyer, in his personal capacity, phoned several Indiana lawmakers to try to get them to redistrict.
It also reported that Meyer joined Vice President JD Vance, White House Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair and White House Counsel Dave Warrington on a trip to Indiana to sell lawmakers there on the idea of drawing new congressional lines.
It is not clear to what extent, if any, the White House has been in contact with Kansas officials about the possibility of drawing a new congressional map.
White House officials pointed to the conservative news outlet the Daily Signal for further details about the series of events that it’s holding with the state lawmakers.
The publication reported that the White House has met with lawmakers from states such as Louisiana, Missouri and Wyoming to discuss how they can replicate the president’s effort in their home states.
The Kansas Legislature has already done something similar when the Senate created the Committee on Government Efficiency, similar to the Department of Government Efficiency that the Trump administration set up.
The White House’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs has contacted state lawmakers nationally to share the administration’s priorities and how they can help advance them, the Daily Signal reported.
Republican Louisiana legislators met with members of Trump’s Domestic Policy Council and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on Aug. 12 at the White House, the publication reported.
Nick Schroer, a Missouri state senator who attended the event, told the Daily Signal that he “thinks the president’s interest in state legislatures could pressure state-level Republicans who often vote with Democrats to get in line with the party platform, particularly when it comes to redistricting.”
“I think if Trump engages on certain things like school choice, like returning the power back to the states, like election integrity, like the 7-1 map in the state of Missouri, you’re going to have a lot of these people that normally won’t vote the right way—pursuant to our party platform—all of a sudden they’re going to jump in line,” Schroer told The Daily Signal.
The reference to a “7-1 map” refers to a proposed redistricting plan in Missouri that would result in seven Republican districts and one Democratic district. Missouri has congressional election lines favoring 6 Republicans and two Democrats.
