The Department of Justice and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, traded shots on social media after the Supreme Court's decision Thursday allowing Texas to use a mid-decade redrawn congressional map that could boost Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections.
Attorney General Pam Bondi responded to the ruling Thursday night on X, writing, "Federal courts have no right to interfere with a State's decision to redraw legislative maps for partisan reasons."
"A federal district court ignored that principle two weeks ago, and the Supreme Court correctly stayed that overreaching decision tonight," Bondi continued. "Congratulations to Texas for advancing the rule of law, my Solicitor General John Sauer, and our team of lawyers for their excellent brief supporting Texas in this important case."
Newsom's press office fired back on X: "So you gonna drop your lawsuit against us right, Pam?"
The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit Nov. 13 challenging California's newly adopted redistricting plan enacted with the passage of Proposition 50 on Nov. 4.
The lawsuit alleges the plan mandates racially gerrymandered congressional districts in violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
DOJ replied to Newsom's press office on X with "Not a chance, Gavin — we will stop your DEI districts for 2026."
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who leads DOJ's Civil Rights Division, added on X: "Lol no bro."
The Supreme Court granted Texas' emergency request to block a three-judge federal district court ruling that barred the map as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.
Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, wrote separately to emphasize that politics, not race, was the driving factor behind the map.
He said it was "indisputable" that the "impetus for the adoption of the Texas map, like the map subsequently adopted in California, was partisan advantage pure and simple."
President Donald Trump has encouraged Republican-led states to redraw congressional maps to help the GOP preserve its narrow House majority in the 2026 midterms.
His call for mid-decade map drawing prompted Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, and Utah to approve new maps, which together could add as many as nine Republican seats.
Republican leaders in Florida and Indiana have opened redistricting discussions or special sessions but have yet to enact new maps, although Indiana on Friday passed a new map that could give Republicans two more House seats.
Democrat-led states have responded with their own efforts to blunt potential GOP gains. California's voter-approved constitutional amendment suspends the state's independent redistricting commission for this cycle and replaces it with a map projected to make about five seats safely or strongly Democrat-held.
In Maryland and Virginia, Democratic Party leaders are exploring ways to override or alter existing commissions and are weighing new maps that could net their party several seats. Those efforts remain in preliminary stages and face internal pushback as well as likely court challenges.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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