WASHINGTON — Sen. Alex Padilla on Tuesday urged the federal government’s independent special counsel to more aggressively investigate whether the Trump administration violated the law by pressing Republican state officials to redraw congressional boundaries to help the GOP.

The Office of Special Counsel told The Sacramento Bee it received Padilla’s letter on the matter and is reviewing it.

Padilla, a former California Secretary of State, said “Strong evidence shows that White House staff are engaging in these apparently unlawful partisan activities using official communications in violation of federal records laws.”

President Donald Trump triggered the redistricting wars earlier this year by urging Texas to redraw its congressional maps to create more Republican-friendly House seats. The state moved quickly and five GOP-leaning seats were created.

California countered with Proposition 50, which redraws the Golden State’s lines to create five more Democratic-friendly districts.

Other states have joined the battle, and independent analysts now see Republicans with a slight edge nationwide. Democrats need a net gain of three seats next year to win control of the House.

A more aggressive investigation?

Padilla has been pressing for action by the Office of Special Counsel since the summer. The office said in July it had opened a case file on the matter. Padilla wants a look at the Hatch Act, which forbids executive branch government employees, except for the president and vice president, from engaging in partisan political activity.

The office is designed to be independent of any partisan influence, but Trump fired the incumbent special counsel, who had been confirmed by the Senate, in February.

The president’s choice for a replacement, Paul Ingrassia, withdrew his name after controversy erupted over racist and antisemitic statements attributed to him. He said he dropped his bid because he did not have enough Republican votes for confirmation. The office is now headed by an acting special counsel.

Since the summer, Padilla said Tuesday, there have been other instances that may have involved violations of the Hatch Act.

“The situation has escalated to such a level that the Office of Special Counsel and the Office of White House Counsel must take immediate action to ensure that senior Trump administration officials cease this apparently illegal behavior,” the senator said.

“Throughout the year, White House senior officials and others in the Trump Administration have been clearly and openly engaged in a political campaign to gain seats for the Republican Party in Congress via a rare and controversial mid-decade redistricting efforts in Texas and many other states,” Padilla wrote.

Among his new evidence is a report that an Indiana state Sen. Greg Walker, a Republican, refused the White House’s staff’s requests to meet. The senator said the effort could violate the Hatch Act.

Republicans now control seven of Indiana’s nine congressional districts. The state Senate is expected to vote later this week on a new map that would make all nine districts more Republican-friendly.

____

©2025 The Sacramento Bee. Visit at sacbee.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.