Overview
- An unsigned 6-3 order granted Texas’ emergency request to use its 2025 congressional map, with the three liberal justices dissenting and Justice Samuel Alito concurring.
- The lower court had found the map likely unconstitutional for relying on race, citing a DOJ letter and public statements by state leaders, and had directed a return to the 2021 lines.
- Republicans designed the map to add up to five U.S. House seats, bolstering President Donald Trump’s effort to protect a narrow House majority as Texas faces a Dec. 8 filing deadline and March 2026 primaries.
- The ruling underscores a broader mid-decade redistricting fight, with California’s voter-approved countermap facing DOJ-backed litigation and new maps advancing or being litigated in states including North Carolina, Missouri, Indiana, and Virginia.
- A pending Supreme Court decision in a Louisiana Voting Rights Act case could reshape legal standards, while Florida leaders weigh a potential redraw under a state constitutional ban on partisan intent.