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Via an unsigned order, the highest judicial body cleared the way for Texas to employ a redrawn congressional boundary scheme that may create several five new Republican-leaning districts. The 6-3 decision, issued on Thursday, grants a petition by the state to set aside a district court's ruling that had struck down the boundaries in November.

Justices' Rationale

The lower court wrongly interjected itself into an ongoing primary campaign, generating considerable confusion and upsetting the delicate balance of power in elections, the supreme court said in explaining its action.

That lower court had earlier ruled that Texas had likely classified voters based on their race – a act known as illegal race-based districting – when it adopted the new maps. It had ordered the state to revert to the boundaries created after the last decennial survey for the upcoming election.

Strong Dissent

In a forcefully written dissenting opinion, Justice Elena Kagan took issue with the court's decision. She argued that it undermined the work of the district court, pointing out that its decision was crafted by a judge selected by ex-President Donald Trump.

We are a higher court than the district court, but we are not a better one when it comes to making such a fact-based decision, Kagan argued in a dissent supported by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

She continued, The majority's order ensures that Texas's new map, with all its increased political tilt, will govern next year's elections. And it ensures that many Texas residents, without justification, will be grouped in electoral districts due to their race. And that result, as this court has stated year in and year out, is a breach of the constitution.

Countrywide Map-Drawing Fight

The court's action is part of a national battle over the remapping of electoral maps. Texas is a key piece in campaigns to reshape the U.S. House map to secure a fragile Republican control. Typically, map-drawing takes place after a ten-year survey. Yet the decision by Texas Republicans to move ahead with a bold mid-cycle redistricting earlier this year triggered a series of events among other states.

GOP lawmakers in including North Carolina and Missouri have also approved new maps that are estimated to yield a number of additional GOP-friendly seats. Democratic lawmakers, for their part, have pushed back with their own plans in states like California and Virginia, which might neutralize those potential gains.

Political Responses

Lone Star State attorney general welcomed the High Court's decision. In a statement, he said the order upheld Texas's basic authority to draw a map that guarantees electoral outcomes supportive of the GOP. We are setting the precedent for restoring our country, through each electoral district and individual state, he added.

On the other hand, Democratic officials decried the ruling. It is deeply disheartening that the Court has endorsed this severely racially gerrymandered plan from Texas Republicans, said the head of a major party election organization.

A senior House figure argued the court had once again damaged its standing by approving a race-based map. Tonight's ruling by far-right justices on the supreme court is further proof that the extremists will do anything to rig the midterm elections. The gerrymandered Texas congressional map is a partisan and racially discriminatory power grab designed to subvert the will of the voters – particularly in Black and Latino communities, he added.