Supreme Court rejects GOP request to block CA congressional map
By: Maureen Groppe
USA Today
WASHINGOTN - California can sue a congressional map drawn to give Democrats an advantage in the 2026 midterm elections, the Supreme Court said February 4 [2026] in a decision that will make it harder for the Republicans to keep control of Congress.
.....
California voters adopted the map in November [2025] at the initiative of Governor Gavin Newsom. A group of California Republicans - backed by the Trump administration - argued that state legislature relied to much on race, rather than politics, to cerate the new districts
..... But the high court, without comment, refused to intervene. It made that decision two months after ruling that Texas could use a congressional map drawn to help Republicans win additional seats in the U.S. House. California's map was redrawn in response to Texas' gambit.
..... Republicans have a razor-thin majority in the House. If Democrats seize control, they can thwart Trump's legislative agenda and launch investigations into his administration.
.....
"Donald Trump said he was 'entitled' to five more Congressional seats in Texas," Newsom said in a social media post after the decision. "He started this redistricting war. he lost, and he'll lose again in November." [2026]
..... In past redistricting cases, the Supreme Court has said federal courts can review whether race as improperly used to draw new lines, but not whether partisan politics were a factor.
..... A lower court's three-judge panel had declined to block California's map, ruling 2-1 that Republicans failed to show race was the motivation factor behind the new lines.
.....
In their emergency appeal, Republicans argued that Democrats were not just trig to offset Texas' map but hoping to shore up Latino support. The GOP pointed to comments made by the consultant who drew the map that the new boundaries could increase Latino voting power.
.....
To accomplish this, one district excluded heavily Democratic White neighborhoods near Stockton and instead include less Democratic Latino areas, according to the GOP.
..... However, California;s lawyers told the Supreme Court that the Latino voting-age population actually decreased in that district. the number of majority-Latino districts remained the same.
..... In the Texas case, the Justice Department argued a lower court got it wrong when ruling the new Texas map likely discriminated against racial minorities by diluting the voting power of Hispanic and Black Texans. The Supreme Court, over the objections of the three liberal justices, allowed Texas to sue the map while litigation continues.
..... In contrast, in backing California Republicans' appeal, the Justice Department said that even if the sate;s overarching goal was undoubtedly political, that is "not a license for district-level racial gerrymandering."
..... The GOP-controlled Texas legislature's new map, drawn at the urging of the Trump administration, set off a redistricting race. Four other states also adopted new congressional maps: Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and Utah.