Several prominent Trump loyalists have been conscripted into compliance, while others are in outright rebellion. At least two Republican House members are in the unusual position of putting their necks out and resisting President Trump in his drive to redraw new congressional maps before the 2026 midterms. They say they have their constituents best interests at heart, but they are also looking out for their own. Theyre trying to stop a retaliatory war to save their seats in Congress and retain what GOP congressional representation theyre clinging to in predominantly blue states like California and New York. On the other side of the partisan divide, at least one prominent Democratic-leaning group, Common Cause, which for years has fought against all types of gerrymandering across the country, is in transition. Once a reliable voice of opposition to gerrymandering, the group is now reconsidering its redistricting mission. Meanwhile, some Democratic lawmakers in blue states are reluctantly being forced to relinquish the safety of their seats for the good of the cause - hitting back against Trumps redistricting power move in what has quickly become a nationwide gerrymandering race to the bottom. On Monday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who appears to be betting his political future and White House ambitions on the redistricting push, held a press conference vowing to "fight fire with fire" if Texas attempts to redistrict and eliminate at least five Democratic congressional seats. If Texas moves forward, California will do the same, Newsom vowed, even as he acknowledged the Lone Star State Republicans arent playing by the rules and Trump is "dialing for seats." The League of Women Voters, usually a Democratic-leaning group, reacted to Newsoms tit-for-tat response by thoroughly condemning it. "We have in California the gold standard for non-partisan redistricting, and we dont think were going to save democracy by burning down another small-d democratic process in the state," Helen Hutichison, interim executive director for the League of Women Voters of California, told RealClearPolitics. "This kind of fighting with fire means that everyone gets burned." But another group, which typically fights against gerrymandering, is now on the fence. A representative of Common Cause on Tuesday told RCP that it was too "swamped" to weigh in this week but could potentially "circle back at a later time." That position seemed odd, considering Common Causes position as the most prominent anti-gerrymandering organization in the country. The next day, the Christian Science Monitorreportedthat the organization, which has fought Democratic and Republican gerrymanders in court for years, was in the midst of an internal debate over whether to change its position when it comes to opposing all partisan redistricting in the face of the Trump-led drive to redraw the lines in Texas and other red states. On Monday night, after a meeting of Common Causes governing board, the groups president and CEO, Virginia Kase Soloman, emailed other leaders of the nonprofit asking them not to issue any new statements on gerrymandering until the board issues further guidance, the paper reported. In California, Newsoms pledge to redraw the lines to eliminate five of the nine GOP seats also woke an aging political giant. In the mid-to-late 2000s, Californias last GOP governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, fought hard alongside the League of Women Voters and Common Cause to create the independent commission in an attempt to depoliticize the states congressional maps. Critics on the right have argued for years that the effort wasnt all that successful - that the process remained heavily skewed to the Democratic advantage. But handing the task back to the Democratic super-majority-controlled legislature is the last thing Republicans across the state want. Newsoms aggressive threats to bypass the commission drew immediate fire from the aging "Terminator" actor, who signaled he would wade into the fight to save his legacy. "Schwarzenegger has a 20-year history of battling gerrymandering, taking power from politicians and returning it to the people where it belongs," said Daniel Ketchell, the former governors spokesman. "He believes gerrymandering is evil, no matter who does it. He still stands by the rule we learned in pre-school that two wrongs dont make a right." The former governor, he concluded, "will continue to be on the side of the people and not politicians - from either party - on this issue." Rob Stutzman, who served as chief of staff to Schwarzenegger during his time as governor, predicted an active opposition campaign by his former boss could help thwart Newsoms efforts to eliminate Republican congressional seats. "Voters [in California] will have to be convinced that the Texas gerrymander is so egregious that they must respond in kind - thats uncharted territory," Stutzman said. "Arnolds opposition would complicate a path to [Newsom] winning." Amid the inter-state turmoil, San Diego Democratic Reps. Scott Peters and Sara Jacobs, who represent strong Democratic areas, have both come forward, albeit reluctantly, to offer to increase the Republican voters in their districts if Newsoms push to redraw the lines is successful. "This is bigger than me and my seat," Jacobs told Politico on Wednesday. "This is about the survival of democracy and our country. I dont think any of us want to go forward with this, but its the only way to respond to what theyre doing in Texas." California GOP Rep. Kevin Kiley, who represents a swing district that could be radically redrawn to favor a Democrat, has launched a crusade to outlaw all redistricting. Kiley agrees that democracy is under assault but argues that the new gerrymandering war is the culprit. Kiley is urging congressional leaders to end the redistricting war before any seats become casualties. "Gerrymandering is a problem regardless of which party does it, and it certainly shouldnt be done in the middle of the decade," he said in an X.com post. "But what Gavin Newsom is attempting in California goes beyond that. It is a full-fledged assault on democracy itself." Both Kiley and New York GOP Rep. Mike Lawler have offered House bills to nullify any state mid-decade redistricting attempts across the nation. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, like Newsom, has also threatened blue-state retaliation if Texas moves forward. Kiley argues that some type of compromise can be reached between two issues that a majority of Americans support: opposition to redistricting and requiring voter ID. The California Republican is urging Speaker Mike Johnson to take up the bill, but the House GOP leader has so far declined to take a position on the measure. Trump and many other voices on the right argue they are simply responding to years of unfair efforts that have skewed the lines in Democrats favor. Democrats, they argue, have hidden behind so-called commissions made up of left-leaning independents that utilize unconstitutional race and ethnicity mandates and inevitably disadvantage Republicans. "Democrats keep saying theyre in favor of gerrymandering bans, but their proposals to date do nothing more than enshrine pro-Democrat gerrymandering nationwide," Adam Kincaid, executive director of the National Republican Redistricting Trust, said in arecent X.com post. Kincaid doubts California and other blue states will be able to quickly clear the administrative and legal hurdles it will take to respond to Texas redistricting efforts. California, he points out, has a constitutional ban on mid-decade redistricting while Texas does not, and Newsom and the state legislature would need to pass measures to change that law as well as pass ballot language to approve the redrawn maps in a special election Nov. 4. Under state law, the California state legislature would need to convene on Aug. 18 and finalize the maps and the ballot language by Aug. 22. Then a ballot initiative would need to win 50% of the vote and survive an inevitable onslaught of legal challenges. "Theyve got so many hoops they have to jump through to even get this thing done," Kincaid remarked. "Newsom is making a really big bet on this. If he gets it done, he looks like the savior of the Democratic Party, but if he fails, he falls flat on his face … and looks pretty weak heading into the presidential primary." Meanwhile, Trump is demanding Texas continue their redistricting efforts before 2026 because "Democrats will do it anyway." "Ive watched this morning as Democrats have been complaining, and theyre complaining from states where theyve done it, like in Illinois and Massachusetts," he told reporters Wednesday. Vice President JD Vance plans to take the same message to Indiana on Thursday, where hes set to meet with Gov. Mike Braun and Republican leaders. Republicans already hold seven of Indianas nine House seats. But in the national GOP effort to increase the House GOP majority in 2026, they will need all the advantages they can get. Despite its GOP control, Indiana lawmakers have shown little interest in calling a special session to redraw the states lines. The state is facing a budget crunch that they and Braun likely want to avoid exacerbating with a potentially costly and chaotic redistricting effort. Braun said any discussion about that with Vance would be strictly "exploratory" with no commitments made. Braun, however, appeared hesitant to defy the White House outright. "Im going to listen and see where theyre coming from," he told reporters earlier this week. "And again, Im going to be listening along with the other two leaders in the legislature, and everybodys going to probably have a different view." Susan Crabtree is RealClearPolitics' national political correspondent.