Pelosi Says California Democrats ‘Will Not Unilaterally Disarm’ in Redistricting War

Ahead of a gathering of California Democrats in favor of redistricting on Friday, U.S. House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, said she supports California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to redraw state congressional maps in response to similar efforts in Texas.

“The Republicans in the White House know that they’re going to lose, they know that. And so they have drawn the lines for Texas,” Pelosi said during a visit to San Francisco’s Veterans Affairs Medical Center on Thursday. “We cannot unilaterally disarm. If that’s what they want to do, then we have to counter.”

States usually redraw their maps once per decade to reflect updated data from the U.S. census, but Texas legislators are working to pass redrawn maps this year. Democrats have said this plan is meant to help Republicans keep their slim majority in the House after the 2026 midterm elections.

As then-Speaker, Pelosi pushed for good government reforms, including ending partisan gerrymandering. While Pelosi said that she is still not a big fan of mid-decade redistricting, she told reporters on Thursday that her party currently has too much at stake.

“This redistricting is about Medicaid, it’s about Medicare, it’s about SNAP, it’s about housing,” Pelosi said. “It’s so many things that the Republicans are not about that they voted against time and time and again. So this is not politics, it’s about meeting the needs of the people.”

President Donald Trump has supported the plan by Texas Republicans, telling CNBC on Tuesday, “We have an opportunity in Texas to pick up five seats.”

“I won Texas,” Trump said, referring to the 2024 election. “I got the highest vote in the history of Texas, as you probably know, and we are entitled to five more seats.”

Texas Democrats fled the state last weekend to deny state Republicans the number of legislators required to pass the redrawn map.

In response, Republicans in Texas have issued civil arrest warrants against the absent legislators. Gov. Greg Abbott has also asked the Texas Supreme Court to declare vacant the seat of state Rep. Gene Wu, the chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus.

Pelosi said Thursday that the House Democratic Caucus had selected Bay Area Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San José, and Pete Aguilar, D-San Bernardino, to lead the planning for California’s map redrawing.

“I’m proud of Congresswoman Lofgren, I’m also very proud of Chairman Pete Aguilar for the planning that they have done to take us forward,” Pelosi said.

An independent redistricting commission draws California’s maps, but Newsom told reporters last week that he’s working with fellow Democrats on a plan to circumvent the commission and present voters with alternate maps during a special election later this year.

“It’s going to be given to the voters for their consideration in a very transparent way so they know exactly what they’re doing and they can go back in 2030 to original form with our independent redistricting intact,” Newsom said Sunday.

Newsom, Pelosi, Lofgren and other California Democrats plan to meet with the Texas Democrats who broke quorum in Sacramento on Friday afternoon.

In a statement ahead of the meeting, Newsom’s office accused Trump and Texas Republicans of pushing “rigged congressional maps to seize power before a single vote is cast in the 2026 election.”