A California Republican slammed House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Tuesday for his reaction to the nationwide redistricting uproar.
Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA), who will introduce a bill halting the redistricting, urged Johnson to “show some leadership” during the partisan map-drawing warfare.
“Ultimately, I think that the speaker needs to step up and show some leadership here because even our own members in states that might, in some theoretical way, mathematical way, stand to benefit from new maps, they don’t like what’s going on either,” Kiley told MSNBC.
“They don’t like the prospect of having their district broken up or having communities they’ve represented, been voted in by, taken out of their district,” he added.
Kiley’s bill, which has not appeared in the congressional record yet, will ban mid-decade redistricting like the efforts ongoing in Texas by Republicans. Redistricting normally happens after the U.S. Census, which is taken every 10 years.
The head executive in Kiley’s state, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), plans to call a November special election to let voters decide if California should redraw its congressional lines to favor Democrats to combat Texas.
Kiley, who represents an R+2 congressional district in eastern California, could be one of the Republicans who lose their seat in the state with Newsom’s redistricting effort.
The California Republican also called out House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) for not ending the redistricting “chaos.”
“It’s not a good thing for either Democrats or Republicans. It’s certainly not a good thing for the country,” Kiley continued. “So I think that the Speaker and Leader Jeffries need to show some leadership here to bring this chaos to an end, and I think that the bill that I have offered gives them the opportunity to do just that.”
Texas is currently trying to wrangle state Democrats back to Austin so they can achieve a quorum and pass the GOP’s map proposal. Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) has threatened the Democrats, who fled to states such as New York, Illinois, and Massachusetts, with arrest and expulsion from their elected offices.
“Texas Democrats abandoned their duties and fled to blue states with gross gerrymandering that has distorted our country’s politics,” Abbott posted on X. “That must change. In Texas, we’ll make sure voters can elect the candidate of their choice.”
Newsom and other Democrats have responded with their own efforts to redistrict in case Texas succeeds. Kiley believes, regardless of the fact that his party began the latest redistricting controversy, that the speculation over maps should end.
“The old saying is that voters should choose their representatives, representatives shouldn’t choose their voters,” Kiley said. “And I think that what’s happening right now across the country, and especially in California, is a very unhealthy thing for democracy.”
Johnson appeared optimistic last week about Republican chances of a decisive win in next year’s midterm elections.
CALIFORNIA REPUBLICAN TO INTRODUCE BILL BANNING MID-DECADE REDISTRICTING NATIONWIDE
“I’m very excited about the midterm election. You know that we’re going to defy history when we grow the majority in the House because it’s only twice in the last 90 years that a sitting president has picked up seats for his party in that first election cycle, but we’re going to do it this time,” the Louisiana Republican said.
President Donald Trump originally urged Texas Republicans to redistrict so the GOP could pick up five seats, a significant swing that would likely seal a continued Republican majority without any Democratic redistricting effort. Democrats remain in the process of their response.