Supreme Court Again Rejects GOP Plan to Redistrict Missouri

The Supreme Court on Friday turned away an attempt to use a new Missouri congressional map backed by President Trump, potentially putting an end to a long-running legal dispute with absentee voting underway in the midterm elections. The justices halted a federal appeals court ruling that would have revived the Republican-friendly map for the November elections that will determine control of Congress, the AP reports. The Supreme Court instead let stand a decision by the Missouri Supreme Court, which ruled this month that a citizen petition prevents the new map from being used unless first approved by voters in a November referendum. "At this late date, ordering reversion to the 2025 map in the midst of an ongoing election would usher in electoral chaos," Friday's unsigned opinion says.

The decision to grant an emergency application by People Not Politicians, the group challenging the new map, was the third time the US Supreme Court had rejected the GOP effort, per NBC News. It means Missouri residents will vote under the same congressional districts used in the 2024 and 2022 elections. Republicans intended for the new House map—which already was used in the August primaries—to help them win an additional seat as part of a nationwide redistricting effort pushed by Trump to gain an advantage in the midterms. The GOP map significantly reshaped a Kansas City-based district held by longtime Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver to make it more Republican.