US Justice Department sues California over new House map

WASHINGTON

The US Justice Department sued the state of California on Thursday to block a new congressional map overwhelmingly approved by voters that is intended to flip five seats in the House of Representatives for Democrats.

Proposition 50 was handily approved last week, with nearly two-thirds of the state’s voters approving the ballot measure amid an ongoing power play between US President Donald Trump and Democratic states.

Attorney General Pam Bondi called the redistricting map a “brazen power grab that tramples on civil rights and mocks the democratic process.”

“Governor (Gavin) Newsom’s attempt to entrench one-party rule and silence millions of Californians will not stand,” she said in a statement.

Newsom put the map before voters in response to Texas’ decision to redistrict that state with the expectation that Republicans would be able to win five new House seats in the southern state. US President Donald Trump has urged Texas and other Republican states to carry out off-year redistricting in the hopes of shoring up their electoral prospects in next year’s midterm elections.

Unlike in California, voters did not approve Texas’ new district map. It was instead rushed through the legislature by Gov. Greg Abbott at Trump’s direction.

The Justice Department is joining an earlier lawsuit launched by the California Republican Party, one day after Prop 50 won widespread support.

The lawsuit, brought forward by State Assemblyman David Tangipa and 18 co-plaintiffs, alleges that Proposition 50 “unconstitutionally gerrymanders districts in violation of the 14th and 15th Amendments” of the US Constitution.

The premise of the suit argues that the maps are unconstitutional because they improperly use voters’ race as a factor in drawing districts.

The legal battle comes as Trump seeks to maintain Republican control of the House during the final two years of his presidency. The party in power, in this case Republicans, typically loses seats in Congress during midterm election cycles.

Redistricting is normally done every 10 years following a census, making Trump’s appeal to Republican governors exceedingly exceptional.

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