House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday called the Supreme Court’s six conservative justices “a disgrace” after they dealt a sweeping blow to the Voting Rights Act.
“We’re going to have to do something about this Supreme Court. And let me be very clear: everything is on the table,” Jeffries told MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas. “Everything to deal with this corrupt MAGA majority that is issuing political opinions that are designed to bolster the prospects of the Republican party, and we will not allow them to succeed.”
Jeffries’ rebuke followed a 6-3 ruling by the court’s conservatives on April 29 that struck down a majority-Black congressional district in Louisiana and severely limited a Voting Rights Act provision that has shaped minority representation in Congress for six decades.
The majority found that Louisiana’s 6th Congressional District relied too heavily on race to draw its lines. “That map is an unconstitutional gerrymander,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the majority opinion.
The ruling sharply curtails the use of race in drawing congressional districts, giving Republicans an opening to dismantle Black and Hispanic majority districts nationwide. It guts a core Voting Rights Act provision known as Section 2 that was designed to ensure minority communities can elect candidates of their choice.
“These MAGA Supreme Court justices are disgraceful. And for a long period of time, they’ve been trying to gut the Voting Rights Act, and they were able to do it with this decision today,” Jeffries said.
Jeffries’ fellow Democrats condemned the decision while conservatives cheered it as a crushing blow against race-conscious mapmaking.
President Donald Trump hailed the decision in a Truth Social post as a “BIG WIN” and praised Alito for “this important and appropriate opinion.”
“The Supreme Court today returned the Voting Rights Act to its original intent, which was to protect against intentional racial discrimination,” wrote James Blair, Trump’s deputy chief of staff.
In dissent, liberal Justice Elena Kagan warned the court was “gutting” Section 2 of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Former President Barack Obama said the majority seemed “intent on abandoning its vital role in ensuring equal participation in our democracy.”
Democrats have also intensified calls to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would ban partisan gerrymandering and strengthen minority representation protections.
Some went further. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) echoed Jeffries’ vow that “everything is on the table,” calling on Congress to expand the Supreme Court, impose term limits on justices and enact a binding ethics code.
The ruling’s full impact may not be felt until 2028, as most filing deadlines for this year’s midterm election races have passed.
But nearly 70 of the 435 congressional districts are protected by the Section 2 provision, with the court’s ruling creating an opening for Republicans to redraw many of those districts before the next presidential election.
“It’s going to be very difficult for these MAGA Republicans in many of these Deep South states to try to use this Supreme Court decision to adversely impact the 2026 election,” Jeffries said. “But we are going to keep our foot on the gas pedal and continue to apply maximum pressure to these people until we break their gerrymandering scheme once and for all.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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