Supreme Court Lets Texas Use Racially Challenged Redistricting Map for 2026

The Supreme Court issued an unsigned emergency order on December 4, 2025, allowing Texas to use its new GOP-drawn congressional map while legal challenges proceeded, overruling a three-judge panel that found evidence of racial gerrymandering. Two judges had found that Republican lawmakers manipulated racial demographics to eliminate Black and Latino majority-influence districts. Justice Elena Kagan dissented, criticizing the court for reversing a 160-page ruling over a holiday weekend on a cold paper record.