On December 4, the Court granted a request from Texas officials to lift a lower federal court’s ruling, clearing the way for the state to implement the new map. The decision came in the form of an unsigned order with a 6–3 split, highlighting a clear division between the conservative majority and the three liberal justices.
Previously, the lower court had ruled that the map showed signs of racial discrimination and violated the U.S. Constitution. The new map breaks up concentrated communities of voters of color and disperses them into majority-white conservative districts, without creating any new districts where voters of color form a majority.
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The Supreme Court argued that the lower court had “improperly interfered with an ongoing primary election process,” disrupting the balance between federal and state authority. It also noted that the lower court erred by not requiring the plaintiffs to present a viable alternative map. Justice Elena Kagan, writing for the liberal trio, criticized the conservative majority for disregarding the lower court’s findings, which were written by a judge appointed by former President Trump.
“By staying the lower court’s ruling, the Court ensures that Texas’s new map — with its partisan advantages — will shape next year’s elections. It also guarantees that many Texans will be placed in districts based on their race without valid justification,” Justice Kagan wrote.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, praised the decision as a “major victory,” saying it reflects the state’s true political landscape and halts what he described as baseless lawsuits from the political left. Meanwhile, the NAACP continued to condemn the new map, noting that although only 40% of Texas’s population is white, white voters control over 73% of the state’s House seats.
Texas currently holds 38 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, second only to California’s 52 seats. Republicans control 25 of those seats. The new map could potentially shift up to five Democratic-held seats into Republican hands. Redrawing Texas’s congressional districts is part of a broader effort to maintain Republican control of the House in the 2026 midterm elections.
Republicans currently hold a narrow House majority, with 219 seats compared to the Democrats’ 213. Losing control of either the House or Senate in November 2026 could threaten President Trump’s agenda and potentially open the door to Democratic-led investigations targeting him.