DOJ sues to block new California congressional map following Prop 50 win

The Supreme Court is weighing the future of the voting rights law

The Supreme Courtroom is contemplating whether or not the Voting Rights Act ought to be restricted once more. The case comes from Louisiana, however the court docket’s resolution might influence each state and doubtlessly the steadiness of Congress main as much as the 2026 midterms. FOX 5’s Katie Barlow was within the courtroom.

WASHINGTON – The Division of Justice (DOJ) introduced this on Thursday submitted a motion to help with a lawsuit filed by California Republicans towards Governor Gavin Newsom over Prop 50, which California voters passed on November 4 according to POLITICO.

The backstory:

Proposition 50, launched by Newsom, authorizes California lawmakers to redraw the state’s congressional districts, which might in flip create a number of new Democratic seats within the Home of Representatives.

U.S. Lawyer Basic Pam Bondi accused the governor of California of committing a “brazen energy seize that tramples civil rights and makes a mockery of the democratic course of,” in keeping with an announcement on Thursday.

“Governor Newsom’s try and entrench one-party rule and silence tens of millions of Californians won’t final,” she stated.

After polls closed on Election Day, California Republicans brought the lawsuit to Newsom and California Secretary of State Shirley Weber; they declare that Prop 50 violates the U.S. Structure, particularly the 14th and fifteenth Amendments.

DOJ attorneys agree — they argue as a result of California Democrats took the variety of Latino voters under consideration each new district under Prop 50the modification permits racial gerrymandering, as POLITICO notes.

“Race can’t be used as a proxy to advance political pursuits, however that’s precisely what the California Basic Meeting did with Prop 50,” Deputy Assistant Lawyer Basic for Civil Rights Jesus Osete stated in an announcement Thursday.

Newsom and Trump are going head-to-head

Dig deeper:

Newsom launched Prop 50 in response to President Donald Trump urging Republican Social gathering-controlled states like Texas to redraw their district lines to make sure that the Republican Social gathering retains its present majority within the Home of Representatives as soon as the 2026 midterm elections arrive.

The governor’s idea is that Prop 50 offers Democrats an opportunity to realize as many as 5 extra seats in Congress, which might be simply sufficient to compete with the 5 seats Republicans might acquire in Texas on account of Trump’s intervention. noted by The Associated Press.

The debacle between the 2 states has set off a series response throughout the nation – congressional redistricting efforts like this one have led to turned up in Missouri, North Carolina, Utah, Louisiana, Ohio, Virginia, Maryland and Indiana.

Governor Gavin Newsom meets with attendees throughout a marketing campaign occasion on Proposition 50, Saturday, November 1, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Picture/Ethan Swope)

SCOTUS and the Voting Rights Act

Giant picture:

The battle over Prop 50 comes because the U.S. Supreme Courtroom seems inclined to restrict the Voting Rights Act’s capability to power states to elect electoral districts in favor of minority voters.

Part 2 of the Voting Rights Act particularly prohibits voting practices and procedures that discriminate on the premise of race; if this had been abolished, the first means via which plaintiffs problem discriminatory election practices would not exist.

Prosecutors in a case through which the U.S. Supreme Courtroom started listening to arguments final month argue {that a} black-majority congressional district in Louisiana is simply too depending on race, and due to this fact has an unconstitutional racial basis.

If the court docket really strikes down the supply, it could mark a big shift within the landmark legislation, which was handed in 1965 as a method to undo “the political maintain of Jim Crow insurance policies within the South and the related discriminatory constructions all through the nation.” the Brennan Center for Justice.

Such a ruling would make it rather more troublesome to take race under consideration when drawing congressional maps. This is able to assist increase Republican electoral prospects by eliminating black and Latino districts, in keeping with the AP tend to skew Democrats. It will additionally imply that states wouldn’t be sure by any restrictions on how they draw electoral districts, resulting in much more excessive partisan gerrymandering.