US Supreme Court formally reinstates pro-Republican Texas voting map
By John Kruzel
WASHINGTON, April 27 (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday formally reinstated a redrawn Texas electoral map designed to add more Republicans to the U.S. House of Representatives as President Donald Trump’s party aims to maintain control of Congress in November’s congressional elections.
The move by the court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, formalizes an interim decision it made in December to revive the map of U.S. House districts in Texas.
The reinstated map sought by Trump, approved by the Republican-led state legislature in August 2025 and signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, could flip as many as five U.S. House seats currently held by Democrats to Republicans.
As in December, the court’s three liberal justices dissented from Monday’s decision.
The Supreme Court reversed a lower court decision that blocked Texas from using the map. The lower court had ruled that the map likely contained racial discrimination that would violate U.S. constitutional protections. Trump last year encouraged Republican lawmakers to redraw state congressional maps to boost his party’s chances in the midterm elections.
In February, the Supreme Court allowed California to use a new electoral map designed to give Democrats five more congressional seats after the Democratic-led state redrew House districts in response to Republican action in Texas.
Republicans currently hold slim majorities in both houses of Congress. Leaving control of the House or Senate to Democrats in the upcoming elections would jeopardize Trump’s legislative agenda and open the door to Democrat-led congressional investigations targeting the president.
The process of redrawing maps, known as redistricting, usually occurs every ten years to reflect population changes as measured by a national census taken every 10 years. On the other hand, ongoing and recently completed redistricting efforts by Republican- and Democrat-held state legislatures have been motivated by a desire for partisan advantage.
(Reporting by John Kruzel; Editing by Will Dunham)
