by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News December 5, 2025

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday gave Texas the green light to use the new congressional map that is expected to give Republicans five additional seats in the House of Representatives.

The court granted the state’s request to pause the ruling issued earlier this month by a three-judge district court in El Paso which declared the new map unconstitutional. That ruling had been on hold since Nov. 21, when Justice Samuel Alito – who handles emergency appeals from Texas – temporarily stayed it to give the justices time to consider the state’s request. Wednesday’s decision extends that hold indefinitely.

Texas was the first state to meet President Donald Trump’s redistricting push for the 2026 midterm elections. Missouri and North Carolina followed with new maps adding an additional Republican seat each.

The high court’s five-paragraph order on Wednesday indicated that “Texas is likely to succeed on the merits of its claim that the District Court committed at least two serious errors.”

The lower court “improperly inserted itself into an active primary campaign, causing much confusion and upsetting the delicate federal-state balance in elections,” the order said.

Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, wrote a separate opinion in which he agreed with the court’s decision to pause the lower court’s order. Writing that “Texas needs certainty on which map will govern the 2026 midterm elections,” Alito made “two short points.” “First,” he said, even the dissenting justices do “not dispute—because it is indisputable—that the impetus for the adoption of the Texas map (like the map subsequently adopted in California) was partisan advantage pure and simple.” Second, he continued, “when the asserted reason for a map is political, it is critical for challengers to produce an alternative map,” but they did not.

Texas can now use the newly redrawn map in the 2026 midterm elections. Republicans hope to win as many as 30 of the Lone Star state’s 38 seats – an increase of five over the previous map.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, applauded the decision Thursday.

“The Big Beautiful Map will be in effect for 2026,” he said. “Texas is paving the way as we take our country back, district by district, state by state. This map reflects the political climate of our state and is a massive win for Texas and every conservative who is tired of watching the left try to upend the political system with bogus lawsuits.”

“Texas is officially – and legally – more red,” said Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in a statement.

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  Supreme Court reinstates new Texas congressional map, WorldTribune.com