Kevin Kiley

Rep. Kevin Kiley, I-Calif., is trying to force a House vote on legislation that would ban states from redrawing congressional districts middecade, arguing the practice is fueling partisan escalation and instability.

Axios reported that Kiley introduced a discharge petition Tuesday, one of the few procedural tools lawmakers can use to bypass House leadership and force legislation onto the House floor.

His proposal would prohibit states from redrawing congressional maps more than once every 10 years following the census unless ordered by a federal court.

Kiley has warned for months that midcycle redistricting could become a recurring political weapon if Congress does not act.

"This arms race could create a new norm where maps are redrawn to gain a temporary advantage every two years," Kiley wrote in a letter to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.

"The result will be chaos for our democracy: a weakening of representation, a further polarization of Congress, and a deepening of the distrust and division that threaten our country's future," he added.

California's latest congressional map shifted Kiley's district into more Democratic territory, contributing to his decision earlier this year to leave the Republican Party and register as an independent.

Kiley said support from Jeffries and House Democrats could determine whether the petition succeeds.

"I think it's going to be dependent upon whether Leader Jeffries decides to stand by what he said, which is that we ought to end middecade redistricting," Kiley said.

"If he does, then I think we will have the support for a bipartisan solution here that will just say enough is enough."

Some Democrats signaled support for the effort.

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., who was also affected by redistricting changes this cycle, called middecade redistricting "immoral and unethical."

Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, whose district became more Republican-leaning after changes by GOP lawmakers, also said he would support the petition.

"Why wouldn't I? Both parties need to get behind ending this. It's gonna kill the democracy," Landsman said.

Jeffries spokesperson Christie Stephenson criticized the proposal, arguing it would disadvantage Democratic-led states.

"Kevin Kiley's unserious legislation would supercharge partisan gerrymandering by Red states while putting Democratic-led ones at a serious disadvantage," Stephenson said.

Kiley said earlier this year, "Since gerrymandering seeks to elevate partisanship above everything else in our politics … the best way to counter gerrymandering and its insidious impacts on democracy is simply to take partisanship out of the equation."

Republican state senators in Louisiana advanced a plan Wednesday to eliminate one of two majority-Black, Democrat-held congressional seats following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down the state's U.S. House map as an illegal racial gerrymander.

The vote came after hours of pleading from Black residents and Democrats opposed to the move. Republicans opted not to pursue a more aggressive approach, which could have targeted both Democrat seats for elimination.