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US Justice Department joins lawsuit over passage of Proposition 50
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Attorney General Pamela Bondi. | Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Justice/Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
census or constitutional authorization. It attempts to create a third option way for legislators to interpose themselves on a process in which they otherwise were barred from participating in.” The original plaintiffs are represented by the Dhillon Law Group, founded by Harmeet Dhillon, who is now the assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice under President Donald Trump. Voters on Nov. 4 overwhelmingly approved Proposition 50, which supporters dubbed “The Election Rigging Response Act.” Newsom, who conceived
of what would become Proposition 50 after Texas adopted a mid-decade congressional redistricting plan favorable to Republicans, called its passage “not just a victory tonight for the Democratic Party, it was a victory for the United States of America, for the people of this country and the principles that our Founding Fathers lived and died for.” Proposition 50 established new congressional district maps for the 2026 midterm elections that will also be used for the 2028 and 2030 elections. An analysis by the election news website See Proposition 50 Page 05
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AQMD approves $78.2 M to replace polluting school buses By City News Service and Staff
By City News Service he U.S. Justice Department Thursday joined state Republicans in a federal lawsuit in Los Angeles challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 50, the recently passed measure redrawing California’s congressional district lines to boost Democratic representation in Washington. “California’s redistricting scheme is a brazen power grab that tramples on civil rights and mocks the democratic process,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement on the DOJ’s effort to join the suit. “Governor Newsom’s attempt to entrench one-party rule and silence millions of Californians will not stand.” A hearing is set for Nov. 21 in Los Angeles federal court to discuss the DOJ’s unopposed motion to intervene in the case. Assemblyman David Tangipa, R-Fresno, the California Republican Party, and 18 district voters brought the lawsuit last week, asking a judge to block the new district lines at least temporarily so California’s original map stays in effect for the 2026 midterm elections. The suit, which names Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Secretary of State Shirley Weber as defendants, argues that the new Proposition 50 maps are unconstitutional because they improperly use voters’ race as a factor in drawing districts and asks the court to stop them from taking effect. “Proposition 50 represents a mid-decade redistricting, precisely the kind of legislative interference that the California Constitution was designed to prevent,” the 26-page complaint contends. “It attempts to substitute a legislative map for the one lawfully adopted by the (state redistricting) commission, without any intervening
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Ballotpedia said it would shift five Republican-held congressional districts toward Democrats. Democrats hold a 43-9 advantage in the state’s House delegation. The measure came in response to an effort in Texas for a mid-decade congressional redistricting that analysts said would give Republicans five additional seats. Other Republican-controlled states such as Florida, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, New Hampshire, Nebraska and South Carolina are also considering efforts to approve mid-decade redistricting. Backers of Prop 50 said it “draws fair maps that represent California’s diverse communities and ensure our voices aren’t silenced by Republican gerrymandering in other states.” In a statement on election night, Republican Party of Orange County Chairman Will O’Neill said, “Millions of Californians will go to bed tonight knowing that their voices have been silenced by backroom deals, Gov. Newsom’s thirst for power, and a cynical campaign funded by George Soros, government unions, and national Democrats. “Over $130 million was spent to convince Californians that a campaign to steal voters’ power was worth the $300 million price tag for this special election. “Gavin has kick-started a redistricting effort in other states to counter his avarice. He signed the redistricting legislation before Texas did. And while the blue states fail to find more seats because they already gerrymandered out Republican voices, red states have begun pushing back against this Gavin-mandering.
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he South Coast Air Quality Management District Governing Board has approved $78.2 million that will be distributed to school districts in four Southern California counties to replace 286 high-polluting school buses with zeroemission models, the agency announced Thursday. The funds will pay for 124 zero-emission buses for Los Angeles County districts, along with 50 buses in Orange County, 60 in Riverside County and 52 in San Bernardino County. A total of 35 school districts in the four counties will benefit from the funds. In
Riverside County, the Moreno Valley Unified School District will receive the most new buses, with 24. Jurupa Unified will receive 17. Other districts receiving new buses will be Banning Unified, Menifee Union, Murrieta Valley Unified and Nuview Union. San Bernardino County school districts include Colton Joint Unified, Ontario-Montclair, Redlands Unified and the Rim of the World School District. “The new buses are expected to reduce harmful emissions by about 46.3 tons of smog-forming nitrogen oxides and 3.5 tons of particulate matter each
See School buses Page 27
Desert X organizers announces changes to 2027 exhibition By City News Service
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he next chapter of Desert X, the Coachella Valley outdoor art exhibition, will bring new changes to the sixth edition and 10th anniversary in 2027, officials announced Thursday. The exhibition will take place from Oct. 30, 2027 through May 7, 2028, which will extend its programming through winter and spring. Organizers said the expansion is part of a new format to embrace the desert’s climate, ecology that will allow artwork to align “with the desert’s natural rhythms” and will change and dissolve in tandem with the land itself. In addition, Desert X will overlap with numerous of the regions events, includ-
See 2027 exhibition Page 27
ing Modernism Week, the Palm Springs International Film Festival and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival to land a new generation of people. “Over the past decade, Desert X has evolved from an idea into a movement,” President and Founder of Desert X Susan Davis said. “Each edition has expanded our reach and deepened our relationships with artists, audiences and communities across the Coachella Valley and the world. As we enter our next decade, the same spirit of thoughtfulness, dialogue and delight that has guided us since our funding, will continue.” It will be curated by