Johnson Promises to Block Redistricting in California

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday accused California Democrats of orchestrating an "illegal power grab" by redrawing their state's congressional map and pledged to marshal all available Republican resources to stop the plan in its tracks. "Democrats across the nation have played politics with redistricting for decades, and this is just the latest example," the GOP speaker posted on X, the Hill reports. "Republicans who are following state and federal laws will not be lectured by people who abused the system."

California Democrats unveiled a proposed set of House district lines on Friday, a move designed to counter expected Republican gains in Texas that also would be realized through redistricting. Ordinarily, California delegates redistricting duties to an independent commission, but Democrats are seeking to bypass that process by putting the new map directly to voters in a special November election in response to the Texas effort. Johnson has been serving as a mediator between President Trump's aides and GOP members of Congress worried about losing their seats in a multistate redistricting war, per the Washington Post.