The Supreme Court has given the controversial Texas map the green light. This decision allows the current congressional map to be used in the 2026 elections, handing Republican lawmakers a major win while a legal fight over whether the lines discriminate against Black and Latino voters continues.
The unsigned order, released on Thursday, pauses a lower court ruling that found the Texas map likely violated federal voting protections.
The justices did not explain their decision, which is typical for emergency orders. But the move means Texas can keep the district lines signed into law by then-Governor Greg Abbott in place for at least one more election cycle. According to AP News, the Court’s three liberal justices: Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissented.
🚨New The Texas Redistricting Map is here
It eliminates 5 Democrats Seats
🔵 9th Green
🔵 28th Cuellar
🔵 29th Garcia
🔵 32nd Johnson
🔵 34th Gonzalez
The districts are now Republican
🔴 9th R+15.2
🔴 28th R+10.4
🔴 29th R+17.7
🔴 32nd R+10.1
🔴 34th R+10.3
It’s now 🔴R30-🔵D8 pic.twitter.com/Wn9TtT7MiB
— The Calvin Coolidge Project (@TheCalvinCooli1) July 30, 2025
A three-judge panel had ruled last month that the map “cracked” communities of color across several districts, weakening their voting power despite the state’s rapid population growth among Black, Latino and Asian residents. Reuters reported that the panel concluded that the Republican-led map likely violated both the Voting Rights Act and the Constitution. They then ordered lawmakers to redraw it before the 2026 primaries.
Texas appealed the ruling and asked the Supreme Court to step in, arguing the lower court acted too quickly and that the map should stay in place while the state challenges the findings. In its request, Texas said replacing the map now would create “chaos” for election officials preparing for the 2026 cycle.
Supreme Court lets Texas use gerrymandered map that could give GOP 5 more House seats – NPR https://t.co/ocCpwBxkiJ
— Carlos A. Moreno (@CarlosAMoreno) December 5, 2025
The conservative majority agreed to freeze the lower court’s order. That means the map used in the 2022 and 2024 elections, which helped Republicans secure strong majorities, will remain unchanged for now.
Civil rights groups and Democratic lawmakers criticized the decision, saying it allows districts they believe dilute minority votes to stay in effect. Plaintiffs in the case argued that Texas gained nearly 4 million new residents over the last decade, with 95% of that growth coming from voters of color, yet lawmakers added no new minority-opportunity districts.
🚨BREAKING: Supreme Court allows Texas to use a Trump-backed congressional map in the midterm elections — CNN pic.twitter.com/0bkIOSasek
— Off The Press (@OffThePress1) December 4, 2025
The AP reports that one of the districts at the center of the case is in the Houston area, where fast-growing Latino and Black populations were split between seats held by white Republican incumbents. NPR notes that challengers also pointed to districts in the Dallas–Fort Worth suburbs, which they say were drawn to weaken the influence of diverse urban communities.
Texas officials have consistently defended the map, saying it was drawn using “race-neutral” methods and complies with all federal laws. State lawyers told the courts that the map reflects political considerations, something the Supreme Court has previously said is allowed, rather than racial ones.
Thursday’s order is not a final ruling on the map itself. Instead, it keeps the status quo in place until the legal battle plays out, a process that could stretch well into 2026 and potentially return to the Court for a full hearing.
BREAKING: The Supreme Court has permitted Texas to keep its newly redistricted, GOP-favorable congressional map in 2026.
Kagan, Sotomayor and Jackson dissent.https://t.co/XCzbZBBhzH pic.twitter.com/1Wy2M4AU0i
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) December 4, 2025
The case is one of several redistricting fights happening across the country as states rework political maps after the 2020 Census. Voting rights experts say the outcome in Texas could shape future challenges, especially in Southern states where demographic shifts are rapidly changing the electorate.
For now, the Texas map stays. The Court’s decision gives Republicans a boost heading into the next House elections and leaves communities of color waiting for a final answer on whether their political power was unlawfully weakened.
