GOP Hack Ashcroft OKs TX remapping plan

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft on Friday cleared Texas to use a new Republican congressional redistricting plan for the 2004 elections -- a devastating blow to Democrats and minorities fighting the plan.

Republican officials praised the decision, but opponents blasted it as the action of a highly partisan Justice Department that "hijacks" minority voting rights for political gain.

Now all that stands in the state's way of using the plan is a federal court lawsuit that challenges the map as a violation of minority voting rights and an extreme partisan gerrymander.

Final arguments in that case are set for Tuesday in Austin.