The Justice Department is joining a lawsuit against California Gov. Gavin Newsom over the redrawing of the state's congressional districts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

The Trump administration accuses California of violating the Constitution by gerrymandering using race as a factor to favor Hispanic voters in the new map. It asked a federal judge on Nov. 13 to prohibit California from using the new map in any future elections.

“Race cannot be used as a proxy to advance political interests, but that is precisely what the California General Assembly did with Proposition 50 — the recent ballot initiative that junked California’s pre-existing electoral map in favor of a rush-job rejiggering of California’s congressional district lines,” the lawsuit states.

Voters overwhelmingly approved using the new map in the Nov. 4 election, agreeing to go back to non-gerrymandered districts after the 2030 Census.

“These losers lost at the ballot box and soon they will also lose in court," Newsom spokesperson Izzy Gardon said in a statement.

The new lines that Proposition 50 allowed the legislature to draw essentially negates the five new Republican-leaning congressional districts Texas created earlier this year at President Donald Trump's urging.

The Justice Department wants to join a lawsuit filed shortly after the election by the California Republican Party.

The complaint by the California Republican Party and co-plaintiffs states the new congressional map was drawn to boost the voting power of Hispanic voters by creating two new districts to "empower Latino voters to elect their candidates of choice."

Republicans argue in the lawsuit there isn't evidence that Hispanic voters are being blocked from electing the representatives they want ‒ a key test judges look for in redistricting lawsuits over race. They also point out that Latinos are the largest demographic group in California.

"However, California's Hispanic voters have successfully elected their preferred candidates to both state and federal office, without being thwarted by a racial majority voting as a bloc," the complaint states. "This is unsurprising because Latinos are the most numerous demographic in the state and California voters nearly always vote based on their party affiliation, not their race."

State legislatures are allowed to consider race when drawing district lines, but they have to be able to justify why if the lines are challenged in court.

On social media, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Justice Department sued Newsom over "his brazen Proposition 50 redistricting power grab."

"Newsom should be concerned about keeping Californians safe and shutting down Antifa violence, not rigging his state for political gain," Bondi said.

California's move to redraw district boundaries came in response to the Texas Legislature redrawing districts to be more friendly to Republicans. Several lawsuits have been brought over that effort and have not been joined by the Justice Department.

A few other states have redrawn their district boundaries in what has become a race to use voter makeup to help determine which party controls the House after the 2026 elections.

What is Prop 50?

Proposition 50 is a constitutional amendment that allows the nation's most populous state to temporarily stop using a nonpartisan commission to draw congressional district boundaries. Instead, California will use lines drawn by Democratic state lawmakers to increase the seats they hold in Congress.

The new lines were drawn and public when voters passed the constitutional amendment. The lawsuit does not challenge Prop. 50, just the new district boundaries.

After the 2030 U.S. Census the nonpartisan commission will resume drawing the lines.

More than 5.6 million Californians voted in favor of Proposition 50 while about 3.2 million voted against it, according to the vote count by the California Secretary of State's office.

Sarah D. Wire, a senior national political correspondent with USA TODAY, can be reached at swire@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Justice Department joins lawsuit over new California congressional districts

Reporting by Sarah D. Wire, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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