(NewsNation) — California Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley said he is going to introduce legislation that would ban states from redrawing their congressional districts in the middle of a decade.
The proposal comes as Texas Republicans are attempting to redraw new districts to elect more Republicans to the U.S. House in the upcoming midterm election.
Republicans currently hold a slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, and Democrats hope to leverage Americans’ disapproval of the Trump administration’s policies to take control of the chamber.
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President Donald Trump has pushed for the Texas effort to redistrict the state.
Texas Democrats fled the state over the weekend, seeking refuge in New York and Illinois in an effort to keep the state House from reaching a quorum and being able to vote on the plan. Blue states have also vowed to redraw their maps in response.
Kiley said his legislation would nullify the Texas maps as well as any others redrawn before the 2030 census.
California is one of the states that has suggested it will redraw districts in retaliation for moves by Republicans, which could potentially mean Kiley would be redistricted into a Democrat-majority district and lose re-election.
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Kiley would be in danger of being placed in a Democrat-majority district and losing reelection if Newsom follows through with his threat of retaliatory redistricting.
“Gavin Newsom is trying to subvert the will of voters and do lasting damage to democracy in California,” Kiley said in a press release. “Fortunately, Congress has the ability to protect California voters using its authority under the Elections Clause of the U.S. Constitution. This will also stop a damaging redistricting war from breaking out across the country.”
He did not address Trump’s push for redistricting by red states.
