President Barack Obama plans to team up after he leaves office with former Attorney General Eric Holder to launch a new political action committee to press for redistricting reform.
According to Politico, the National Democratic Redistricting Committee was “developed in close consultation with the White House” and that Obama himself has identified with the group.
“American voters deserve fair maps that represent our diverse communities—and we need a coordinated strategy to make that happen,” Holder said in a statement. “This unprecedented new effort will ensure Democrats have a seat at the table to create fairer maps after 2020.”
Democratic leadership in statehouses and congress is being decimated by Obama’s policies. The president routinely complains about gerrymandering, saying that is making things unfair for Democrats across the country.
In August 2015, Obama discussed at length his feelings on a system that he suggested was rigged to favor Republicans.
“I think political gerrymandering has resulted in a situation in which — with 80 percent Democratic districts or 80 percent Republican districts and no competition, that that leads to more and more polarization in Congress, and it gets harder and harder to get things done,” he said during an interview with NPR.
During his State of the Union address in 2016, Obama called for an end of the current boundaries, suggesting that the political map was rigged to favor extreme candidates.
”We have to end the practice of drawing our congressional districts so that politicians can pick their voters and not the other way around,” he said, vowing to “travel the country to push for reforms” to make it easier for people to vote.