Supreme Court Allows California to Use New Congressional Map Eliminating Five GOP Seats

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

(Worthy News) – The Supreme Court of the United States on Wednesday declined to take up a legal challenge to California’s newly drawn congressional map, allowing the state to proceed with district lines that effectively eliminate five Republican-held U.S. House seats.

In a brief, unsigned order, the justices rejected an appeal brought by California Republicans seeking to block the redistricting plan backed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. The decision leaves intact lower-court rulings that dismissed GOP claims the map constitutes unconstitutional racial gerrymandering.

California voters approved the new map through Proposition 50 in November, a move Democrats framed as a response to Republican-led redistricting efforts in Texas. Critics, however, have denounced the measure as a partisan power grab enabled by universal mail-in voting, ballot harvesting, and weakened election safeguards.

According to KCRA-TV, the five Republican lawmakers targeted by the redistricting plan are Representatives Doug LaMalfa, Kevin Kiley, David Valadao, Ken Calvert, and Darrell Issa. The revised districts are expected to favor Democrats through at least 2030.

President Donald Trump has previously blasted the California redistricting vote as a “GIANT SCAM,” stating that the process is under serious legal and criminal review. The California Republican Party also pursued federal lawsuits to halt the new map, but a three-judge panel rejected the challenge, with a lone Trump-appointed judge dissenting.

Newsom celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision, accusing Republicans of attempting to overturn the will of voters and declaring the ruling a defeat for what he called politically motivated lawsuits. The outcome mirrors a similar Supreme Court decision in late 2025 allowing Texas to proceed with its own revised congressional maps.

The ruling cements California’s new district boundaries ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, intensifying the battle for control of the U.S. House.

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