The Justice Department on Thursday joined a Republican-led lawsuit that seeks to block a new Democratic-drawn congressional map in California that voters approved last week.
The redrawn district lines could allow Democrats to pick up an additional five House seats in next year’s midterm elections. The Trump administration’s involvement in the case escalates the battle and adds another political layer to the ongoing redistricting efforts that are playing out across the country.
In a complaint filed in federal court Thursday, the Justice Department effectively joined a suit filed last week by the California Republican Party that challenges California’s new map.
In their complaints, the DOJ and the California GOP allege that the new maps approved by voters amount to a “racial gerrymander” that they say violates the U.S. Constitution. The suit claims that California Democrats considered race when proposing the redrawn map in ways that advantage Hispanic voters.
“The end result is a map that manipulates district lines in the name of bolstering the voting power of Hispanic Californians because of their race,” lawyers for the Justice Department wrote in their complaint. “Our Constitution does not tolerate this racial gerrymander.”
“California’s redistricting scheme is a brazen power grab that tramples on civil rights and mocks the democratic process,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement Thursday. “Governor [Gavin] Newsom’s attempt to entrench one-party rule and silence millions of Californians will not stand.”
Voters’ approval of a ballot measure — known as the “Election Rigging Response Act,” or Proposition 50 — earlier this month allows California Democrats to circumvent an independent commission that controls the redistricting process in the state and implement a more partisan map.
California Democrats made the push in response to Republicans’ aggressive mid-decade redistricting efforts in other states, most notably Texas, where the party hopes its new map will net it up to five House seats in 2026. President Donald Trump has also pressured Republicans in Missouri, North Carolina and elsewhere to enact new maps that will help the party shore up its narrow House majority.
Newsom, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, emerged as a figurehead in the campaign for the California’s new map, accusing Trump and Republicans of “rigging” the midterm elections with their redistricting pushes.
The redistricting process typically occurs at the start of each decade, when new census data is available.
