DOJ Urges SCOTUS to End Key VRA Protection for Minority Voters

The U.S. Department of Justice filed an amicus brief Wednesday in Louisiana’s ongoing redistricting case, arguing that the U.S. Supreme Court should significantly weaken the power of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) to block racial gerrymanders.

Though not unexpected, the brief carries major symbolic weight.

For decades, the Justice Department has been at the forefront of efforts to use Section 2 of the VRA to protect minority voting rights, most frequently in the redistricting process. Under President Donald Trump, it now argues for a radically narrowed interpretation of Section 2, which could make it all but useless in stopping racially motivated gerrymanders.

In the case challenging Louisiana’s congressional map, the DOJ submitted an amicus brief calling the state’s creation of a second majority-Black congressional district “unconstitutional,” and describing current protections as little more than “electoral race-based affirmative action.”

Solicitor General D. John Sauer asserted that intentionally drawing a second Black-majority district violates the Constitution.

But the DOJ went further, arguing that the Voting Rights Act itself cannot justify race-conscious redistricting. “Section 2 does not supply a compelling interest to draw such districts because the statute would be unconstitutional if it required such race-based districting,” the filing declares.

In language echoing the Supreme Court’s rollback of affirmative action in college admissions, the DOJ claimed, “current voting conditions cannot justify such excessive consideration of race.”

If the Supreme Court embraces this view, it could gut one of the last remaining protections for voters of color, stripping communities in Louisiana and beyond of the ability to challenge discriminatory maps.

The DOJ also asked the Supreme Court to participate in upcoming oral arguments for the case.

Oral arguments are scheduled for October 15.