Justice Department sues Newsom over alleged race-based redistricting

November 13, 2025

By KAREN VELIE

The Justice Department announced yesterday it filed legal action against California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Secretary of State Shirley Weber’s newly adopted redistricting plan enacted through Proposition 50.

Newsom argued Prop. 50 was a needed response to Republican promoted gerrymandering in Texas and other conservative states. The passage of Prop. 50 allowed Democrats to replace congressional lines drawn by the state’s independent commission with new ones in an attempt to switch five Republican seats to Democratic.

“California’s redistricting scheme is a brazen power grab that tramples on civil rights and mocks the democratic process,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Governor Newsom’s attempt to entrench one-party rule and silence millions of Californians will not stand.”

The DOJ lawsuit alleges Prop. 50 mandates racially gerrymandered congressional districts in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Evidence, including that in the legislative record and public statements, indicate that the legislature created a new map in which Latino demographics and racial considerations predominated, in violation of the Equal Protection Clause.

“The race-based gerrymandered maps passed by the California legislature are unlawful and unconstitutional,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli of the Central District of California. “The U.S. Department of Justice is moving swiftly to prevent these illegal maps from tainting our upcoming elections. California is free to draw congressional maps, but they may not be drawn based on race.”

On Nov. 5, a group of California voters filed suit against a congressional map adopted by the California legislature arguing it is an unconstitutional racial gerrymander that violates the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

“Race cannot be used as a proxy to advance political interests, but that is precisely what the California General Assembly did with Prop 50,” said Jesus A. Osete, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. “Californians were sold an illegal, racially gerrymandered map, but the U.S. Constitution prohibits its use in 2026 and beyond.”

The DOJ’s motion to intervene in Tangipa, et al. v. Newsom, et al. is pending before the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.