The Justice Department is joining a lawsuit against California Gov. Gavin Newsom over the redrawing of the state's congressional districts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
The Trump administration accuses California of violating the Constitution by gerrymandering using race as a factor to favor Hispanic voters in the new map. It asked a federal judge on Nov. 13 to prohibit California from using the new map in any future elections.
“Race cannot be used as a proxy to advance political interests, but that is precisely what the California General Assembly did with Proposition 50 — the recent ballot initiative that junked California’s pre-existing electoral map in favor of a rush-job rejiggering of California’s congressional district lines,” the lawsuit states.
Voters overwhelmingly approved using the new map in the Nov. 4 election, agreeing to go back to non-gerrymandered districts after the 2030 Census.
“These losers lost at the ballot box and soon they will also lose in court," Newsom spokesperson Izzy Gardon said in a statement.
