Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is responding after President Donald Trump announced that he will direct the U.S. Department of Justice to sue California over its plan to put new congressional maps before voters, a move state officials say is a response to the president’s directive requiring Texas to redraw its maps to create five additional Republican districts.
In a nearly unprecedented move last month, Trump told Texas Gov. Greg Abbott he wanted new congressional maps drawn in the Lone Star State, to create five new GOP-held seats. The move would help Republicans in their efforts to hold the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in next year’s midterms.
Districts, by constitutional mandate, are redrawn every 10 years, based on the official U.S. Census. A mid-decennial redrawing is unusual, although not entirely unprecedented.
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Newsom had warned that if Texas succeeded, he would move to have his state’s maps redrawn. Texas did, and last week, state lawmakers passed legislation that will ask voters this November to approve the redrawn maps.
Asked by a reporter if there is a “federal mechanism” he could use to “fight back” against Newsom’s redistricting, despite having ordered Texas to redistrict, Trump referred to the California governor as “Gavin Newscum.”
He then replied, “Well, I think I’m going to be filing a lawsuit pretty soon and I think we’re going to be very successful in it.”
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“We’re going to be filing it through the Department of Justice. That’s going to happen,” Trump vowed.
Responding to the news of a lawsuit, Newsom wrote on social media: “BRING IT.”
On Thursday, according to CNBC, Trump praised Texas for its new maps, writing: “The incredible people of Texas will have the opportunity to elect five more Republicans to Congress, thanks to the passage of their much more fair new Map — A BIG WIN for Republicans in Texas, and across the Country!”
Watch the video below or at this link.
Trump says the DOJ is going to sue to stop California's redistricting effort pic.twitter.com/bAhGVpWdz2
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 25, 2025
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