‘Partisan operator’: Newsom says Supreme Court 'rewarded' GOP with Alabama redistricting ruling

WASHINGTON, DC: California Governor Gavin Newsom sharply criticized the Supreme Court on Tuesday, June 2, after it allowed Alabama to use a congressional map expected to benefit Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections.

Newsom accused the court’s conservative majority of advancing partisan interests and disregarding legal precedent in a ruling that could reshape Alabama’s congressional delegation. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries also condemned the decision, arguing it further undermined the court’s credibility in election-related disputes.

Gavin Newsom accuses Supreme Court of abandoning precedent and the rule of law

In a post on X, Newsom described the ruling as evidence that the Supreme Court had abandoned neutrality in politically significant cases. “WAKE UP, AMERICA,” Newsom wrote.

“The Supreme Court majority just admitted it’s a PARTISAN operator willing to TORCH the rule of law to advance its ideological agenda.”

Newsom argued that the court, through its unsigned order, had ignored key aspects of the lower court’s findings and departed from precedent.

“In an unprecedented move with a brief UNSIGNED order, it: 1) IGNORED the central basis of the lower court’s decision, 2) DISREGARDED its own precedent (that it had assured just weeks ago remained good law), and 3) REWARDED Alabama's defiance of a federal court order.”

He added that the ruling was designed to help Republicans gain an additional congressional seat. “All to help Republicans squeeze out one more seat in the midterms. And on Election Day for millions of Americans no less!”

Jeffries echoed similar concerns in a separate statement posted to X. “The far-right Supreme Court has issued another partisan redistricting decision,” the New York Democrat wrote.

“Extremist MAGA justices have done nothing but advance the political interests of the Republican Party. They have zero credibility.”

Court clears Alabama map after lower judges found racial discrimination

The Supreme Court on Tuesday, June 2, allowed Alabama to use a congressional map that eliminates one of the state’s two majority-Black districts, a decision expected to give Republicans an additional House seat in the 2026 midterm elections.

In a 6-3 unsigned order, the court lifted a lower-court ruling that had blocked Alabama’s GOP-drawn map, allowing the state to proceed with a plan likely to shift its congressional delegation from a 5-2 Republican advantage to a 6-1 split.

The ruling overturned a decision by a three-judge federal panel that had unanimously concluded Alabama’s map was unconstitutional and violated federal voting protections. The lower court wrote, “ultimately, we cannot see our way clear to requiring Alabamians to cast their votes in the 2026 elections under a districting plan tainted by intentional race-based discrimination.”

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, also criticised sharply. “Yet just as Alabama doubled down on racial discrimination, the court today doubles down on chaos,” Sotomayor wrote.