Supreme Court clears Texas congressional map targeting five Democratic seats

The Supreme Court allows Texas to proceed with its mid-decade congressional redistricting plan — known as Plan C2333 — that Republicans drew to eliminate up to five districts currently held by Democrats. The map is part of a broader national mid-decade redistricting push initiated by the Trump administration and carried out by Republican-led state legislatures. Texas Republicans argue the new map simply reflects population shifts and is constitutionally sound. Democrats argue it is an overt partisan gerrymander designed to maximize Republican seats ahead of the 2026 midterms. The map redraws several competitive suburban districts that Democrats had won in 2024 and eliminates or significantly alters the composition of several minority-majority districts. The Supreme Court's clearance comes just days before the same court issues its ruling in Louisiana v. Callais gutting Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, removing the primary legal tool that would have been used to challenge racially-drawn districts in the map. Several states — including Florida, Alabama, and Georgia — are moving forward with their own mid-decade maps under the same political strategy.