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Newsom threatens to redraw California House maps in protest at Texas plan

Newsom threatens to redraw California House maps in protest at Texas plan

The Guardian18-07-2025
Seeking to offset a Republican plan to pick up congressional seats in Texas, California Democrats say they are prepared to redraw the state's 52 congressional districts in a longshot and controversial effort to pick up Democratic seats.
Governor Gavin Newsom, seen as a likely presidential candidate in 2028, has been leading the threat in recent days. And Democratic members of California's delegation in the US House appear to be on board.
'We want our gavels back,' Representative Mark Takano, a California Democrat, told Punchbowl News. 'That's what this is about.' Democrats hold 43 of California's 52 seats and reportedly believe they can pick up an additional five to seven seats by drawing new maps.
Newsom is pushing the plan as Texas Republicans are poised to redraw its 38 congressional districts in a special session that begins next week. Texas's governor, Greg Abbott, put redistricting on the agenda at the request of Donald Trump, who wants Republicans to add five seats in Texas as he seeks to stave off a loss in congressional seats next year. The effort has been widely criticized by Democrats as an anti-democratic ploy to make Republicans unaccountable to their voters.
Newsom's plan in California is unlikely to succeed. More than a decade ago, California voters approved a constitutional amendment that stripped lawmakers of their ability to draw congressional districts and gave it to an independent redistricting commission. Newsom has only offered vague ideas for how to get around that requirement. He has suggested the legislature could call a quick voter referendum to potentially strip the commission of its power. He also said on Wednesday there was a possibility of the legislature trying to enact new maps on its own – a novel legal theory.
'It's not lawful in any way,' said Dan Vicuña, a redistricting expert at the watchdog group Common Cause. 'It was clear that this was meant to be done one time after the census, through a public and transparent process that centers community feedback, and then to be not touched again until the next decade.'
He added: 'It's not an invitation to them to circumvent the independent process and gerrymander maps in the middle of a decade. That would completely undermine the purpose of the independent process voters approved.'
California's independent commission has long been considered a model for making the process of drawing district lines fairer. There has been a bipartisan push in recent years to get more states to adopt commissions such as California's, where ordinary citizens – Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliated – have the power to draw district lines. After the 2020 census, four states – California, Arizona, Michigan and Colorado – used independent commissions. Democrats sought to require all states to use independent redistricting commissions in federal legislation that stalled in the US Senate during Joe Biden's presidency.
Russell Yee, a Republican who served on California's commission, said that while he understood Newsom's frustration, the only solution is redistricting reform at the federal level.
'To abandon a commitment to fair and equitable election districts for partisan advantage is to sell family treasures at a pawn shop for a wad of quickly spent cash,' he said.
Newsom has noted he supported creating the commission, but frames his willingness to redraw maps as the type of hardball Democrats should be more willing to play as Trump and Republicans have openly defied the law.
'They're playing by a different set of rules. They can't win by the traditional game so they want to change the game,' Newsom said on Wednesday. 'We can act holier than thou. We can sit on the sidelines, talk about the way the world should be. Or we can recognize the existential nature that is this moment.'
Alex Lee, a state assemblyman who chairs his chamber's progressive caucus, rejected that argument. 'CA independent citizen redistricting (imperfect) is model for the nation,' he wrote in a post on X. '[Republicans] resort to cheating to win. We win by running clear platform for the working class and delivering.'
Trying to push through a redrawing of California's map could also undermine efforts by Democrats to convince voters of the grave dangers of Trump's attacks on the rule of law.
'I don't think it's appropriate to combat attacks on democracy with more attacks on democracy,' Vicuña said. 'This sounds like a very familiar playbook. It sounds like the Trump playbook.'
This article was amended on 17 July 2025. An earlier version attributed the closing quote about attacks on democracy to Alex Lee instead of Dan Vicuña.
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Trump's attempts at damage control on Epstein are just making things worse
Trump's attempts at damage control on Epstein are just making things worse

The Guardian

time12 minutes ago

  • The Guardian

Trump's attempts at damage control on Epstein are just making things worse

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Higher US tariffs part of the price Europe was willing to pay for its security and arms for Ukraine
Higher US tariffs part of the price Europe was willing to pay for its security and arms for Ukraine

The Independent

time42 minutes ago

  • The Independent

Higher US tariffs part of the price Europe was willing to pay for its security and arms for Ukraine

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CNN fact-checks Trump's Beyoncé $11 million payment claim
CNN fact-checks Trump's Beyoncé $11 million payment claim

Daily Mail​

time42 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

CNN fact-checks Trump's Beyoncé $11 million payment claim

A CNN fact check poured cold water on President Donald Trump's claim that Kamala Harris' campaign paid megastar Beyoncé $11 million for an endorsement. The famous singer endorsed Harris at a campaign rally in Houston just weeks before the election last November in a last-minute bid to jolt support for the Democratic nominee. Trump has alleged that Harris's political team illegally paid for the support, and that they should be prosecuted for it. 'I'm looking at the large amount of money owed by the Democrats, after the presidential e lection , and the fact that they admit to paying, probably illegally, eleven million dollars to singer Beyoncé for an endorsement (she never sang, not one note, and left the stage to a booing and angry audience!)' Trump wrote on Saturday. The Truth Social post also alleged that Oprah Winfrey was paid $3 million for 'expenses' and MSNBC's Al Sharpton was given $600,000. 'These ridiculous fees were incorrectly stated in the books and records,' Trump claimed. 'You are not allowed to pay for an endorsement. It is totally illegal to do so. Can you imagine what would happen if politicians started paying for people to endorse them. All hell would break out! Kamala, and all of those that received Endorsement money, broke the law. They should all be prosecuted!' However, an article from CNN's fact checker Daniel Dale asserted that Trump's allegation was baseless. Evidence of the $11 million payment has not been reported. The White House did not respond to the Daily Mail's request for evidence of the multi-million dollar payment. Harris' campaign has denied paying for endorsements and Beyoncé's mother, Tina Knowles, has called the allegations a 'lie.' 'Beyonce did not receive a penny for speaking at a presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harrris' (sic) Rally in Houston,' Knowles wrote on her Instagram. According to an Federal Election Commission (FEC) filing , Harris' campaign payed the signer's production company, Parkwood Production Media, $165,000 for 'campaign event production.' Additionally, a spokesperson for Harris' campaign said last year that the political operation did not pay for celebrity endorsements, but they did concede that they had to cover costs associated with the production, like staff and equipment. Another denial came when a spokesperson for Beyoncé told PolitiFact last year that the claim the singer was paid millions was 'beyond ridiculous.' Harris' campaign paid a non-profit led by Sharpton a total of $500,000, FEC filings show. The Democrat's political operation also paid Harpo Productions, a company owned by Oprah, $1 million for a live stream event. Trump last spoke about the alleged endorsement payment in February. 'They go out and they pay Beyoncé, as an example. Somebody just showed me something. They gave her $11 million,' the president said at the time. In a May post on Truth Social the president again slammed the alleged payment to Beyoncé while also suggesting that Bruce Springsteen accepted money for his performance at a Harris rally.

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