Trump Admin Takes Legal Action Against California’s ‘Race-Based’ Gerrymandering

The Justice Department is fighting back against the Democrat-backed congressional maps in California following the overwhelming passage of Prop. 50, which would temporarily change the state’s maps in the next three election cycles.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli said that the DOJ “filed a motion to intervene in the Prop 50 lawsuit.”

“The race-based gerrymandered maps passed by the California legislature are unlawful and unconstitutional. We are moving swiftly to prevent these illegal maps from tainting our upcoming elections,” Essayli posted to X. “California is free to draw congressional maps, but they may not be drawn based on race.”

Proposition 50 would allow for five seats to potentially add to the Democrats’ roster in the House, and it was done as a direct countermeasure to Texas’ Republican-backed mid-decade redistricting efforts earlier this year.

“These losers lost at the ballot box and soon they will also lose in court,” a spokesperson for Newsom’s office told The Daily Wire in an email on Thursday.

Attorney General Pam Bondi posted to X on Thursday that “Newsom should be concerned about keeping Californians safe and shutting down Antifa violence, not rigging his state for political gain.”

The California Republican Party announced legal action against the maps last week, calling them unconstitutional.

“Dear Gavin Newsom, I hate to rain on your parade but your celebration over the passage of Prop 50 will need to wait a few days,” Mark Meuser, an attorney with Dhillon Law Group, posted to X regarding the lawsuit.

“You have been sued. Your unconstitutional racial gerrymandering is now heading to a federal three-judge panel and maybe to the SCOTUS to determining if your use of race in drawing congressional districts should be enjoined,” Meuser added.

The Daily Wire reported last week that the nation’s redistricting fight continues to get messier, as multiple red and blue states have already taken or are weighing mid-decade redistricting steps. Redistricting is typically only done each decade when there is new census data, but the fight for the House and a Voting Rights Act case before the Supreme Court could drastically change the landscape in 2026, or leave it looking similar with extra steps in between.

Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Wire last week that Republicans could ultimately have the upper hand nationwide. Republicans currently hold a narrow 219-214 majority.

“I think the Republicans will, and the reason for that is that, you know, with a few exceptions, Democratic-controlled states have already gerrymandered their states pretty much to the maximum you can,” he said.

“So, I actually think even if California is successful, I think with what the other states are doing, I still think Republicans may come out slightly ahead,” he added.

“Look, what’s at stake in the Louisiana case is actually very simple: it’s the conflict between the Voting Rights Act and the 14th Amendment,” he continued, noting that Louisiana v. Callais could potentially pave the way for many more Republican seats in the south, as it could possibly result in Section 2 of the VRA being nixed.