Justice Department requests Supreme Court to prevent California’s congressional redistricting plan.

Justice Department Challenges California’s Congressional Maps

The Justice Department informed the Supreme Court on Thursday that California has incorrectly included race in its newly created congressional maps. They argue that these maps breach the Voting Rights Act and should be halted.

Attorney General John Sauer labeled the map, which was approved by California voters through Proposition 50 last November, as “tainted by unconstitutional racial gerrymandering.” He urged the Supreme Court to act swiftly and suspend the lower court decisions that validated the map.

The allegations from the Justice Department come as part of a lawsuit initiated by the Republican Party against Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee concerning Proposition 50. The Justice Department has joined the lawsuit in support of the Republican Party.

In their filings, California’s lawyers suggested that Republicans are using a “thin veneer of racial gerrymandering” to challenge the map after their attempts to convince California voters failed. They argued that Republicans haven’t met the high threshold necessary to prove that the maps were unconstitutional, prioritizing race.

This legal dispute is one of many redistricting conflicts anticipated ahead of the midterm elections. Following a warning from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, Texas last year approved new Republican-friendly maps, which Democrats have claimed exhibit unconstitutional racial gerrymandering.

In December, the Supreme Court upheld the Texas map in a decision accompanied by three dissenting liberal justices.

In reaction to Texas’s redistricting, Newsom announced that California would adjust its maps to counter Republican gains there. Voters in California approved the related ballot measure in November.

Democrats contend that the California map was designed with political intentions, potentially granting them a five-seat advantage in the upcoming 2026 midterm elections. Sauer asserted that race, rather than politics, played a decisive role in the redrawing of at least one district.

He pointed out that the map’s designer, Paul Mitchell, has publicly indicated that one district aims to bolster the Latino vote, particularly in the Central Valley, where several districts face challenges.

With candidates preparing to file paperwork for the 2026 midterms based on these new maps starting February 9, Republicans are pressing the Supreme Court for a prompt decision.