JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri — The U.S. Supreme Court has blocked Missouri from using a Republican-drawn congressional map for the November midterms, marking the third time the justices have intervened against the Trump-backed redistricting plan.
In an unsigned order Friday, the court suspended lower-court rulings requiring use of the 2025 map, saying changing districts after absentee voting had begun would “usher in electoral chaos.” No justice publicly dissented. Missouri will instead use the congressional map adopted in 2022.
President Donald Trump had urged Republican-led states to redraw congressional boundaries mid-decade to improve the party’s position in the House. Missouri lawmakers responded with a map that dismantled Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s Kansas City-based district and could have given Republicans seven of the state’s eight seats.
The Missouri Supreme Court previously ruled that the new map could not take effect until voters considered a referendum backed by more than 300,000 petition signatures. A federal appeals court nevertheless ordered the map restored Monday, prompting another emergency appeal.
Timing proved critical. Absentee ballots using the 2022 districts were already being distributed, while more than 1 million Missouri voters would have been shifted into different districts under the new lines.
The ruling does not end the underlying litigation, but it determines which districts Missouri will use in the November election.
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