US Supreme Court blocks Trump-backed Missouri congressional maps for second time, clearing way for old districts in November midterms

USA: The United States Supreme Court has again rejected a push to use Missouri’s newly drawn congressional maps backed by President Donald Trump, dealing a blow to Republican efforts to gain an additional House seat ahead of November’s pivotal midterm elections.

According to CNBC, the brief order, issued Thursday with no noted dissents, appears to clear the way for Missouri to use its older congressional map, passed by Republican lawmakers in 2022 following the last census, for the general election.

The ruling arrives at the end of a more than year-long legal fight over Missouri’s congressional districts that has generated significant confusion, spawned conflicting court orders, and brought a state official to the brink of a contempt hearing, all in the weeks before ballots begin going out to voters.

Missouri was the second Republican-led state after Texas to redraw its congressional districts following Trump’s encouragement last year for Republicans to remap House seats to their advantage ahead of the midterms. The revised Missouri map targets a Kansas City-based seat held by Democratic Representative Emanuel Cleaver, shedding parts of his district into neighbouring Republican-leaning areas and stretching the remainder into rural territory, with the goal of helping Republicans win seven of Missouri’s eight House seats, a gain of one.

Petition, delay, and primary confusion

Redistricting opponents collected hundreds of thousands of petition signatures to force a statewide referendum on the new districts, submitting them in December. However, Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins waited until August, the same day as Missouri’s primary, to reject the petition, asserting that a referendum petition could not be used for congressional redistricting. The delay allowed Missouri to use the new districts in its August primary.

According to CNBC, the Missouri Supreme Court subsequently ordered Hoskins to place the redistricting referendum on the November ballot and ruled that the new districts had never validly become law, suspending them retroactively to December when the petition was submitted. The state appealed to the US Supreme Court, where Justice Brett Kavanaugh rejected the request. The court then barred Hoskins from using the new map.

Conflicting orders from federal and state courts

The situation became further complicated when US District Judge Stephen Clark issued a conflicting order directing Hoskins to use nothing other than the Trump-backed map, directly contradicting the Missouri Supreme Court's ruling. The state court responded by ordering Hoskins to appear for a contempt hearing Thursday for instructing local election authorities to use the Trump-backed districts.

State attorneys representing Hoskins asked Clark to halt the contempt hearing. Clark declined. Hours later, the US Supreme Court issued Thursday's order rejecting the new maps, effectively resolving the standoff in favour of the state court’s position and the older district boundaries.

What it means for the midterms

The ruling is a setback for Republican efforts to maximise their House majority heading into November. With control of both the House and Senate potentially determining whether Trump can deliver on major legislative promises, including his recently announced $5,000 “Trump Dividend” pledge, every contested seat carries significant weight.

Missouri’s reversion to its 2022 map means Representative Cleaver’s Kansas City seat is likely to remain more competitive for Democrats than the redrawn version would have allowed.