The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Texas can go ahead with its new congressional district map in the 2026 midterm elections, a redrawing intended to boost Republican strength in the US House by as many as five seats at President Trump's behest. The decision, apparently on a 6-3 vote, granted an emergency request from Gov. Greg Abbott and paused a lower court's decision that found the map unlawful because it likely considered race in its design. The Supreme Court's unsigned order stated Texas is "likely to succeed on the merits of its claim," referencing what the majority apparently considers the lower court's failure to respect the presumption that lawmakers act in good faith, NBC News reports.
The three justices appointed by Democratic presidents objected. Justice Elena Kagan argued in a 17-page dissent that the decision undermines the district court's work and harms Texans who, according to the lower court, were assigned to districts based on race. She also ripped her colleagues, saying the Supreme Court made its decision "based on its perusal, over a holiday weekend, of a cold paper record," per the New York Times. "We are a higher court than the district court, but we are not a better one when it comes to making such a fact-based decision," Kagan wrote.
Justice Samuel Alito, in a concurring opinion, argued that challengers did not provide sufficient evidence that race, and not partisanship, was the deciding factor, per NBC. He had paused the lower court's decision in November while the Supreme Court considers the case. The suit to block the new map was brought by several groups, including the League of United Latin American Citizens and the Texas NAACP, as well as two Democratic members of Congress. Candidates wanting to run next year in Texas have until Dec. 8 to file. The legal battle has confused planning over what districts candidates of both parties want to run in.
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