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Trump administration sues California over Proposition 50

November 13, 2025

The Trump administration sued California on Thursday, Nov. 13, over the redistricting plan approved by voters last week, an attempt to invalidate the new congressional maps meant to help Democrats pick up House seats in next year’s midterm elections.

The U.S. Department of Justice alleged that it was race, rather than partisanship, that drove the governor and legislators in redoing the congressional maps that voters ultimately approved. The Justice Department, in its filing, argued that racial gerrymandering is unconstitutional.

“During the Legislature’s consideration and debate of Proposition 50, several legislators gave racial — not political — reasons in favor of their votes for the new map,” the Justice Department said in the filing obtained by the Southern California News Group. “They described other states’ redistricting efforts as efforts meant to suppress minority voters.”

California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 50, the redistricting ballot measure at the core of a hastily called special election. The election was called in favor of Proposition 50 almost immediately after polls closed on Nov. 4, a resounding victory for Gov. Gavin Newsom, who sought to add five extra Democratic House seats to California’s congressional maps.

Newsom and his Democratic allies have touted the mid-decade redistricting maneuver as a counter to similar gerrymandering efforts led by Republicans in other states at the behest of President Donald Trump.

The Justice Department is joining California Republicans’ federal lawsuit challenging Proposition 50. Assemblymember David Tangipa, R-Fresno, and 18 California voters joined the state GOP on that lawsuit.

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They argued that Proposition 50 violates the 14th and 15th amendments because it unconstitutionally gerrymanders districts to favor Hispanic voters. Attorneys are seeking a court injunction to block the voter-approved Proposition 50 maps from being used for the 2026 midterm elections while the case is heard.

The Justice Department is asking the court to invalidate the maps approved by Proposition 50, making them unusable for the 2026 midterms or subsequent elections.

Dhillon Law Group, the firm that filed the California Republicans’ lawsuit, was founded by Harmeet Dhillon, an assistant attorney general in the Justice Department. Dhillon stepped down from her role at the law firm in April to work for the Trump administration.

On Election Day last week, Trump claimed without evidence that the election was rigged and hinted at the possibility of a legal challenge.

“The Unconstitutional Redistricting Vote in California is a GIANT SCAM in that the entire process, in particular the Voting itself, is RIGGED. All ‘Mail-In’ Ballots, where the Republicans in that State are ‘Shut Out,’ is under very serious legal and criminal review. STAY TUNED!” a post on Trump’s Truth Social account said.

California Secretary of State Shirley Weber called the president’s post “another baseless claim.”

In addition to the state GOP lawsuit, there’s a separate effort underway in California to ask voters to scale back the scope of Proposition 50 a bit.

While the ballot measure approved the new partisan maps for the next three elections, the proposed initiative aims to curtail them to just the 2026 midterms. Congressional maps already in place — these were drawn by the state’s independent commission — would be used in the 2028 and 2030 elections, the proposal states.

“Since Proposition 50 restores the commission in 2032, why should we wait? We can accept that voters made the change for 2026, but why wait for 2032?” said Orange County-based attorney James V. Lacy, who is spearheading this effort.

The Trump administration, meanwhile, is also suing several states — California included — over voter rolls management. The Justice Department has alleged that the states did not hand over all the voter registration information it sought and did not appropriately respond to questions about voter roll maintenance efforts.

The Trump administration is also suing Orange County Registrar of Voters Bob Page, alleging that he did not turn over full records related to the removal of non-citizens from voter registration lists. Page, through attorneys, has maintained he followed state and federal law and could not give sensitive personal information of registrants without a subpoena or court order.

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.

Orange County Register

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Trump administration sues California over Proposition 50

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