Supreme Court blocks Republican-backed Missouri congressional map

The U.S. Supreme Court blocked Missouri from using a 2025 congressional map that would have favored Republicans, leaving the state’s 2022 district lines in place for the November midterm elections.

In an unsigned opinion with no noted dissents, the justices halted orders from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and a federal district court that would have required the state to use the newer map. The high court noted that ballots based on the 2022 map had already been printed and mailed, and that absentee, military, and overseas voting had begun. 

“The election is not merely upcoming; it has already started,” the court wrote, adding, “At this late date, ordering reversion to the 2025 map in the midst of an ongoing election would usher in electoral chaos.”

The order instructs lower courts not to block use of the 2022 map or require use of the 2025 map for the 2026 congressional election. 

Missouri’s current House delegation stands at six Republicans and two Democrats. The 2025 map, adopted by the Republican-controlled legislature at the urging of President Donald Trump as part of a broader push for mid-decade redistricting, was designed to create a 7-1 Republican advantage by splitting Kansas City and targeting the district held by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II. Missouri used that map for its August primaries. 

The Missouri Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that a citizen referendum petition prevented the 2025 map from taking effect unless and until voters approve it in November, meaning the 2022 lines must remain in effect. Federal courts then issued conflicting orders, prompting repeated emergency appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court. 

The Sept. 25 decision marks the third time in recent weeks that the Supreme Court has acted in the state election case and leaves election officials using the 2022 map as voting continues.