DOJ Asks Supreme Court To Block California Congressional Map

Solicitor General D. John Sauer filed an emergency brief with the U.S. Supreme Court urging it to block California's Proposition 50 congressional map and halt use of District 13 as an alleged racial gerrymander, the filing said.

The California Republican Party requested an immediate ruling by Feb. 9, the start of the 2026 candidate filing period, and the justices set a deadline for California to respond by Jan. 29 at 4 p.m. ET, according to court papers.

The Justice Department intervened on behalf of Republican challengers and submitted three alternative maps that it said achieved partisan goals without segregating voters by race, while California lawyers wrote that Republicans used a "flimsy veneer of racial gerrymandering" to relitigate Proposition 50, court filings show.

If allowed, the Proposition 50 map would net Democrats up to five U.S. House seats in the 2026 election, and the Supreme Court in December allowed a separate Texas map that could net Republicans up to five seats over a dissent by the court's three liberal justices, records show.

California must submit its response by Jan. 29 at 4 p.m. ET and the justices could rule at any time, a schedule that could determine whether the map governs the Feb. 9, 2026 candidate filing period while the court also considers Louisiana v. Callais in the coming months, court papers say.