Supreme Court again blocks Trump-backed Missouri congressional map

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday again blocked Missouri from using a Republican-backed congressional map in the Nov. 3 election, leaving the state’s 2022 district lines in place as absentee voting proceeds.

In an unsigned opinion with no noted dissents, the justices halted lower federal court orders that would have required election officials to reinstate the map adopted by Missouri’s Republican-led legislature in 2025. The court said its earlier order had established that the 2022 map should govern the 2026 election unless the justices directed otherwise.

“The election is not merely upcoming; it has already started,” the court wrote, adding that switching maps now “would usher in electoral chaos.” Ballots based on the older districts have already been printed and sent to voters, including military and overseas voters.

The Missouri Supreme Court had ruled that a citizen petition prevented the 2025 map from taking effect unless voters approve it in a November referendum. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later ordered the newer districts restored, reasoning that using different maps for the primary and general election would violate the Constitution. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected that approach.

Republicans currently hold six of Missouri’s eight U.S. House seats. The 2025 map, championed by President Donald Trump and Gov. Mike Kehoe, was designed to improve the party’s chances of winning a seventh seat by substantially reshaping Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s Kansas City-area district. Trump and Kehoe criticized Friday’s decision.