General Discussion

The Supreme Court sided with Texas over civil rights groups in an emergency challenge to the Donald Trump-backed congressional map that aimed to benefit Republicans ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

The court’s three Democratic appointees dissented from the Republican-appointed majority’s decision to put the Trump-backed map in play on Thursday. The majority granted Texas emergency relief because, it said, the state would likely succeed in its appeal.

Writing for the dissenting trio, Justice Elena Kagan said the majority’s order “ensures that many Texas citizens, for no good reason, will be placed in electoral districts because of their race. And that result, as this Court has pronounced year in and year out, is a violation of the Constitution.”

After a divided three-judge panel deemed the state’s map to be likely racially discriminatory on Nov. 18, Texas filed an emergency appeal to the high court. The appeal initially went to Justice Samuel Alito, the justice assigned to field such requests from that region. On Nov. 21, Alito issued an order temporarily halting the lower court ruling, pending further review by the full bench of justices.

Texas argued that the map it produced over the summer in response to Trump’s call was motivated by politics (which the Supreme Court has allowed), not race. The state noted that California worked to add Democratic seats to its congressional delegation in response to Texas’ move.