Supreme Court Rejects Trump-Backed Missouri Congressional Map

The Supreme Court on Friday denied a request to implement a new congressional map in Missouri that was supported by former President Donald Trump. This decision effectively ends a protracted legal dispute over the state's electoral boundaries just as absentee voting begins for the midterm elections.

The high court declined to overturn a federal appeals court ruling that would have reinstated the Republican-friendly map for the November elections, which will determine control of Congress. No dissents were noted in the Supreme Court's decision.

Instead, the Supreme Court allowed a prior ruling by the Missouri Supreme Court to stand. That state-level decision stated that a citizen petition prevents the new map from being used until voters approve it in a November referendum. Consequently, Missouri voters will cast their ballots using the same congressional districts that were in place for the 2024 and 2022 elections.

In an unsigned opinion, the Supreme Court stated that at this late stage, implementing the new map would create "electoral chaos." The court directed lower federal courts not to prevent the use of the 2022 map for the upcoming congressional election.

Republicans had hoped the newly drawn map, which was utilized in the August primaries, would help them secure an additional seat in the House of Representatives as part of a broader redistricting effort pushed by Trump to gain an advantage in the midterms.

A panel from the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had previously ruled that switching congressional districts between the primary and general elections would violate the U.S. Constitution. This panel had ordered a district judge to prevent Missouri from using anything other than the new map, but delayed the order's effect to allow for a Supreme Court appeal.

The legal challenges surrounding Missouri's redistricting have led to at least 16 lawsuits in state and federal courts, making it one of the most complex redistricting battles among states that have altered their U.S. House districts over the past year.

While the new map had survived most legal challenges, including arguments that mid-decade redistricting violated the state constitution and that the districts lacked compactness, the Missouri Supreme Court's decision on the referendum petition proved decisive. The court ruled the petition was valid and ordered the Secretary of State not to use the new map, reverting to the 2022 districts.

Despite the U.S. Supreme Court's initial action letting the Missouri Supreme Court's ruling stand, a U.S. District Court judge later issued a conflicting order favoring the new map. The U.S. Supreme Court's most recent intervention blocked that conflicting order from taking effect.

Richard von Glahn, executive director of People Not Politicians Missouri, indicated the group would continue its efforts to convince voters to reject the new map in the November referendum, stating, "We have said from the beginning, people, not politicians will be the final deciders on this DC power grab."