On redistricting, Newsom is right to fight back

GOV. NEWSOWM’S plan to temporarily change state redistricting laws is a response to Texas’ move to add GOP House seats.

- VIVEK VISWANATHAN GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

RICH PEDRONCELLI Associated Press GOV. NEWSOM'S plan to temporarily change state redistricting laws is a response to Texas' move to add GOP House seats.

IT'S NOT A SURPRISE that Donald Trump has pushed Texas Republicans to redraw congressional district lines to find five more GOP seats for the U.S. House of Representatives in time for the 2026 midterm elections.

He just signed a deeply unpopular bill to cut taxes for the wealthy and cut healthcare for millions of people, and his approval rating keeps dropping. In an election based on district maps as they stand — and should stand until the next census, in 2030 —his party’s 2026 prospects for holding the House are grim. Unlike his predecessors, he’s proven willing to break our democracy to get what he wants.

If Trump’s gambit succeeds — and right now it looks as if it will — then California and other states that could counter the premature Texas redistricting have only one choice — to respond in kind.

Consider the stakes: A majority of Americans disapprove of Trump’s job performance and have done so since within a month of his taking office. Yet he is undercutting the institutions that we'd otherwise depend on to speak independently and resist presidential excesses — judges, journalists, university leaders and even government officials who make the mistake of neutrally reporting facts like economic data.