COUNTERPUNCH

Disgraced MAGA Rep’s Case Against Newsom Thrown Out by Trump Judge

A Trump-appointed judge has thrown out a lawsuit seeking to block Newsom’s effort to counter red states’ gerrymandering.

A federal judge has thrown out MAGA Rep. Ronny Jackson’s lawsuit against Gavin Newsom that was aimed at blocking California’s redistricting push.

The decision is a victory for the California governor’s effort to counter red states’ attempt to deliver more House GOP seats for President Donald Trump in the 2026 midterms.

After Texas redrew its maps earlier this year, a move expected to deliver Republicans five new seats, Newsom retaliated by putting forward a ballot measure that could temporarily authorize new California district lines to neutralize Texas’ advantage.

Jackson, who represents Texas, sued Newsom, 58, in August, seeking to block the measure—which the Democratic governor has dubbed the Election Rigging Response Act. The Trump-loyalist, 58, claimed that if voters approve the measure and Democratic candidates go on to win statewide, he would be left vulnerable to losing his chair on two House subcommittees.

Jackson posted a video on social media announcing his lawsuit, telling Newsom, “We are going to sue you, and we are going to win this.”

But a Trump-appointed Texas district judge dismissed Jackson’s lawsuit Thursday, saying that the congressman failed to show how California’s redistricting plan would cause him to “suffer a legally cognizable injury-in-fact.”

Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, whom Trump appointed in 2019, called Jackson’s claim that he would lose influence, staff members, and media visibility in the event that California approves the ballot measure, “far too speculative to show causation.”

Kacsmaryk, considered a staunch conservative, also cast doubt on Jackson’s assertion that his outspoken support for Trump makes him especially vulnerable to retribution from Democrats.

“Plaintiff is hardly unique among Republican congressmen in that respect,” the judge wrote. “Thus, his argument that he is uniquely likely to suffer retribution at the hands of a Democratic majority falls flat.”

The Daily Beast has reached out to the offices of Jackson and Newsom for comment.

Jackson served as Trump’s White House physician during the president’s first term and before that for Barack Obama—who has reentered the political arena to back California’s redistricting initiative.

In 2020, Jackson let his full medical license expire in Virginia. The retired Navy one-star admiral was demoted from his rank in 2022 amid allegations of making inappropriate sexual comments and violating alcohol policies, before being reinstated last month.

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The White House has previously used a statement from Jackson hailing Trump as “the healthiest president this nation has ever seen” and “mentally and physically sharper than ever before” to respond to inquiries about the president’s health conditions and mental gaffes.

If California’s Prop. 50 passes in the Nov. 4 special election, it is expected to hand Democrats five seats.

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