Our nation faces two concurrent threats to the foundation of American democracy: the Supreme Court’s consideration of Louisiana v. Callais, which threatens to topple what remains of the Voting Rights Act, and the government shutdown.
These events are not isolated.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard arguments in the Louisiana voting rights case. The court was asked, by Louisiana, to determine whether the state’s creation of a second majority-Black congressional district, designed to comply with the Voting Rights Act, is unconstitutional. This case could upend one of the last remaining tools available to protect the right to vote for Black people and other historically disenfranchised Americans.
This case could upend one of the last remaining tools available to protect the right to vote for Black people.
On top of Callais, our nation continues to navigate a government shutdown — one caused by Republicans who’d prefer to keep the government shut rather than negotiate lower health care costs for millions of Americans.
The shutdown undermines the federal government’s basic ability to serve the American people. When our government cannot function, the most vulnerable communities bear the brunt of its paralysis. The same communities that depend on stable federal operations are the ones whose voices are also at risk of being silenced in our democracy.
Since the Voting Rights Act was signed in 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson, the far-right has been exploring opportunities to wipe it out.
Wednesday, they got one step closer.
As the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization, the NAACP is deeply alarmed by the Supreme Court’s apparent openness to doing just that.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor made it clear that the aim of the government in this case is to gut Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act for good.
“Race is always a part of these decisions,” she said during the hearing Wednesday, rightfully arguing that race is considered in redistricting to ensure fair representation. “My colleagues are trying to tease it out in this intellectual way that doesn’t deal with the fact that race is used to help people,” the justice said.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, one of the conservative justices appointed by President Donald Trump during his first term, said that race-based remedies under the Voting Rights Act “should have an endpoint.”
This was the same argument we heard before the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action.
Weakening and eliminating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits racially discriminatory voting practices or procedures and has guided the creation of majority-minority congressional districts, could significantly reduce the number of representatives of color at every level of government, wipe out minority representation and lead to the resegregation of city councils, school boards and legislatures across the country.
If that happens, it would not be the first time the Voting Rights Act was gutted on Chief Justice John Roberts’ watch.
The court’s disastrous 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder, dismantled preclearance protections under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Section 2 has been the final line of defense against racial discrimination in redistricting. But if the court uses the Callais case to weaken or eliminate that safeguard, then it will have eroded the hard-won progress that generations of Americans fought for and died to secure. This would be devastating for our democracy.
The court’s ruling in this case could help a deeply unpopular Republican Party hold onto the House.
But remember what this is all about. The court’s ruling in this case could help a deeply unpopular Republican Party hold onto the U.S. House of Representatives in 2026. And that’s what President Trump wants — because his extremist agenda is so unpopular, he can’t fairly win another majority in Congress.
Trump and his oligarchs are looking at every possible opportunity to maintain control of Congress. They are busily redrawing congressional maps across the country, challenging lawful, existing maps and trying to make it harder for people to vote and harder for Republicans to lose. If they are ultimately successful, then their efforts will have gravely weakened Black Americans’ right to vote. That’s why the NAACP filed lawsuits in Texas, and Missouri, and sued the Trump administration for its March 25 executive order (14248) — one that Trump claims would “preserve the integrity of American elections,” but that would in reality suppress Americans’ God-given right to vote — voters of color disproportionately. As a people, we have fought too hard over many generations to allow our franchise to be taken away by the billionaire class. Taken together, the shutdown and the Callais case threaten to redefine the role of the federal government in protecting civil rights. The shutdown reflects an effort to delegitimize federal responsibility — as demonstrated by Trump’s promises to lay off federal workers, while Callais challenges the legitimacy of federal protection itself. Congress must not allow this erosion to continue. It must act to restore and strengthen the Voting Rights Act, ensure that the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division remains equipped to enforce it, and reject any attempt to normalize government dysfunction as an acceptable political tactic. The health of our democracy depends on both a functioning government and a fair one. Rather than lamenting, we must organize. It’s clear to us that rather than lamenting, we must organize. We know Trump wants us to be afraid, but we cannot be. We know he wants to concentrate power, but we cannot allow him to. Democracy is not a spectator sport, we all have a role to play. Organize your communities. Peacefully demonstrate. Stay informed. And most importantly, vote. We have the November 2025 elections coming up in 19 days — with governors, mayors, and many other local officials up and down the ballot — and the midterms in only 383 days. We have to make every day count. Everyone has a part to play in stopping Trump’s authoritarian power grab. The NAACP urges Congress to recognize that these crises share a common purpose and require a common response.
Derrick Johnson
Derrick Johnson is president and CEO of the NAACP, a title he has held since October 2017. Under his leadership, the NAACP has undertaken such efforts as the 2018 "Log Out" Facebook Campaign after reports of Russian hackers targeting African Americans; the Jamestown-to-Jamestown Partnership, marking the 400th anniversary of enslaved Africans' touching the shores of America; and 2020's We are Done Dying Campaign, exposing the inequities embedded into the American health care system and the country at large. He is dedicated to advocating on behalf of the Black community and all those who are affected by systemic oppression and prejudice. 
