Texas may use its new congressional plan for the 2026 elections after the Supreme Court granted the state’s emergency stay on Thursday, Dec. 4. In a short, unsigned order, the Court paused a three-judge district court’s Nov. 18 injunction that had barred the 2025 map and directed Texas back to its 2021 lines. Justice Samuel Alito had entered an administrative stay on Nov. 21 while the Court considered the application. The 5-paragraph order says Texas is likely to succeed because the lower court failed to presume legislative good faith and did not draw an adverse inference from the challengers’ failure to produce an alternative map meeting the state’s “avowedly partisan goals.” Justice Elena Kagan, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissented, while Justice Alito filed a short concurrence joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch. The ruling ensures the new map will be used while appeals continue amid primary-calendar pressure.
What Happened and What Comes Next
The case reached the Court after a divided three-judge panel in El Paso found the 2025 plan was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander and ordered Texas to revert to its 2021 map. The Supreme Court’s stay order extends Alito’s temporary hold and keeps the 2025 plan in place through the 2026 cycle unless the appeal is dismissed or the judgment is affirmed. In addition to the two “serious errors” mentioned in the opinion, the order also raises election-timing concerns. The decision comes as the deadline for candidate filing looms and the broader mid-decade redistricting push by multiple states continues to gain traction. Read more in ScotusBlog, CBS News, PBS, and Reuters.
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