{"id":376619,"date":"2025-11-13T19:42:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T19:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/376619\/"},"modified":"2025-11-13T19:42:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T19:42:10","slug":"justice-department-sues-to-block-california-us-house-map","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/376619\/","title":{"rendered":"Justice Department sues to block California US House map"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 The Justice Department on Thursday sued to block new congressional district boundaries<\/a> approved by California voters last week, joining a court battle that could help determine which party wins control of the U.S. House in 2026. <\/p>\n

The complaint filed in California federal court targets the new congressional map pushed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom<\/a> in response to a similar Republican-led effort in Texas<\/a> backed by President Donald Trump<\/a>. It sets the stage for a high-stakes legal and political fight between the Republican administration and the Democratic governor, who\u2019s seen as a likely 2028 presidential contender. <\/p>\n

\u201cCalifornia\u2019s redistricting scheme is a brazen power grab that tramples on civil rights and mocks the democratic process,\u201d Attorney General Pam Bondi<\/a> said in an emailed statement. \u201cGovernor Newsom\u2019s attempt to entrench one-party rule and silence millions of Californians will not stand.\u201d<\/p>\n

California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 50, a constitutional amendment changing the congressional boundaries to give Democrats a shot at winning five seats<\/a> now held by Republicans in next year\u2019s midterm elections. <\/p>\n

The Justice Department is joining a case challenging the new map<\/a> that was brought by the California Republican Party last week. The Trump administration accuses California of racial gerrymandering in violation of the Constitution by using race as a factor to favor Hispanic voters with the new map. It asks a judge to prohibit California from using the new map in any future elections. <\/p>\n

\u201cRace cannot be used as a proxy to advance political interests, but that is precisely what the California General Assembly did with Proposition 50 \u2014 the recent ballot initiative that junked California\u2019s pre-existing electoral map in favor of a rush-job rejiggering of California\u2019s congressional district lines,\u201d the lawsuit says. <\/p>\n

Prop 50 was Newsom\u2019s response to Trump\u2019s maneuvers<\/a> in Texas, where Republicans rejiggered districts in hopes of picking up five seats of their own ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, when House control will be on the line. <\/p>\n

Democrats need to gain just a handful of seats next year to take control of the chamber<\/a>, which would imperil Trump\u2019s agenda for the remainder of his term and open the way for congressional investigations into his administration. Republicans hold 219 seats, to Democrats\u2019 214.<\/p>\n

The showdown between the nation\u2019s two most populous states has spread nationally, with Missouri, Ohio and a spray of other states<\/a> either adopting new district lines to gain partisan advantage or considering to do so.<\/p>\n

The national implications of California\u2019s ballot measure were clear in both the money it attracted and the high-profile figures who became involved. Tens of millions of dollars flowed into the race, including a $5 million donation to opponents from the Congressional Leadership Fund, the super political action committee tied to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. <\/p>\n

Former action movie star and Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger opposed it<\/a>, while former President Barack Obama, a Democrat, appeared in ads supporting it<\/a>, calling it a \u201csmart\u201d approach to counter Republican moves aimed at safeguarding House control.<\/p>\n

The contest provided Newsom with a national platform<\/a> when he has confirmed he will consider a White House run in 2028.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Richer reported from Chicago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 The Justice Department on Thursday sued to block new congressional district boundaries approved by…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":376620,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[3881,32708,11744,276,356,69,90,1854,57,8119,50,11335,80,22204,89,94,322,67,326,132,68,93],"class_list":{"0":"post-376619","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"category-us","9":"tag-ap-top-news","10":"tag-arnold-schwarzenegger","11":"tag-barack-obama","12":"tag-california","13":"tag-courts","14":"tag-donald-trump","15":"tag-elections","16":"tag-gavin-newsom","17":"tag-general-news","18":"tag-mike-johnson","19":"tag-news","20":"tag-pam-bondi","21":"tag-politics","22":"tag-redistricting","23":"tag-u-s-democratic-party","24":"tag-u-s-department-of-justice","25":"tag-u-s-republican-party","26":"tag-united-states","27":"tag-united-states-house-of-representatives","28":"tag-unitedstates","29":"tag-us","30":"tag-washington-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115544099664522006","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376619\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}