"The Supreme Court has cleared the way for Texas to use its new congressional map that could help Republicans win five more U.S. House seats in the 2026 midterm election. The decision released Thursday boosts the GOP's chances of preserving its slim majority in the House of Representatives amid an unprecedented gerrymandering fight launched by President Trump, who has been pushing Texas and other GOP-led states to redraw their congressional districts to benefit Republicans."
"that panel found challengers of the new map are likely to prove in a trial that the map violates the Constitution by discriminating against voters based on race. In its majority opinion, authored by a Trump nominee, the panel cited a letter from the Department of Justice and multiple public statements by key Republican state lawmakers that suggested their mapdrawer manipulated the racial demographics of voting districts to eliminate existing districts where Black and Latino voters together make up the majority."
"But in Texas' filing to the Supreme Court, the state claimed the lawmakers were not motivated by race and were focused instead on drawing new districts that are more likely to elect Republicans. In November, after the panel blocked the new map, Justice Samuel Alito allowed Texas to temporarily reinstate it while the Supreme Court reviewed the state's emergency request."
The Supreme Court allowed Texas to use a newly drawn congressional map that could help Republicans gain five House seats in the 2026 midterms. A three-judge panel found challengers likely to prove the map discriminated against voters based on race after a nine-day hearing. The panel cited a Department of Justice letter and Republican lawmakers' statements suggesting the mapdrawer manipulated racial demographics to eliminate districts where Black and Latino voters together form a majority. The panel ordered use of Texas's 2021 districts pending trial. Texas said the redrawing was partisan, not racial, and Justice Alito temporarily reinstated the new map during Supreme Court review.
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