A U.S. District Court judge appointed by President Donald Trump dismissed a lawsuit from two Republican lawmakers seeking to stop redistricting efforts in California.
In the lawsuit filed earlier this month, Reps. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Ronny Jackson (R-TX) called for an injunction on using new California district maps in the 2026 midterm elections.
The lawsuit argued that California’s redistricting was not legitimate because it was a response to President Donald Trump’s desire for Texas to create more Republican seats by gerrymandering in that state.
“If the House of Representatives flips to a Democrat majority due to California’s unlawful districting, Plaintiff will lose his subcommittee chairmanships. This loss of a position is a concrete personal interest, for not only will Plaintiff lose investigative authority, but the Republican staff on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Armed Services Committee will be reduced as the minority staff is smaller than the majority staff,” the lawsuit stated. “If California illegitimately flips seats, Republican members from Texas like Plaintiff will lose committee chairmanships and legislative influence, diluting the representation and policy voice Texas’s voters currently enjoy.”
In his ruling on Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk concluded that neither congressman faced sufficient harm to bring the lawsuit.
Kacsmaryk noted that lawmakers “may not sue in their representative capacity when the asserted harm amounts only to ‘a loss of political power, not loss of any private right.'”
The judge also found that “having one’s district politically gerrymandered does not constitute a justiciable injury.”
