Supreme Court Blocks Missouri's Trump-Backed House Map for the Third Time

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday blocked Missouri for a third time from using a redrawn congressional map designed to hand Republicans another House seat, ordering the state to hold the Nov. 3 general election under district lines approved in 2022.

In an unsigned opinion with no noted dissents, the court said the lower courts had gone too far. "The election is not merely upcoming; it has already started," the justices wrote, adding that "at this late date, ordering reversion to the 2025 map in the midst of an ongoing election would usher in electoral chaos." The order directs the district court and the 8th Circuit not to block the 2022 map and not to require the state to use the 2025 version for this year's congressional races.

Ballots printed on the 2022 lines have already gone out to Missouri voters and to military and overseas voters, and absentee voting by mail and in person began earlier this week. The 2025 map, pushed through the Republican-led legislature at President Trump's urging, would have given the GOP an edge in seven of Missouri's eight districts, up from the current six Republicans and two Democrats. Its main target was the Kansas City-based seat held by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, which the new lines split and pulled to the right.

The case had whipsawed through the courts all month. Justice Brett Kavanaugh first left in place a Missouri Supreme Court ruling that barred the new lines for this election. The full court then halted a federal district court order requiring them. On Monday, the 8th Circuit ruled that using the 2022 map was unconstitutional and ordered the 2025 map reinstated, and a federal judge quickly issued a permanent injunction to that effect. The group People Not Politicians, which opposes the new map, went back to the justices Tuesday, arguing the appeals court was trying to evade their earlier order. "The result is chaos on both sides of Election Day," the group wrote.

State officials had argued the opposite. Because the new districts were used in the August primaries, they said, switching back to the 2022 lines would effectively disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of primary voters and force candidates to run in districts they never campaigned in. "The honest truth is that — regardless of what this Court does — Missouri will not be able to run an orderly 2026 General Election," they told the court, warning of a "fifth court-ordered change to its map in September."

Cleaver celebrated the ruling. "Tonight, after more than 305,000 Missourians demanded a say, the Supreme Court has put this shameful and unlawful scheme to rest," he posted. Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe called the decision "disappointing" but said Missouri would comply.

Missouri was one of several Republican-led states that redrew their maps mid-decade at Trump's request to shore up the party's narrow House majority before the midterms. Friday's order came the same day the court let states use a federal citizenship database to check voter rolls, part of a busy stretch of emergency election rulings with the general election less than six weeks away.