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Through a per curiam ruling, the highest judicial body cleared the way for Texas to use a revised congressional district plan that could add as many as five new GOP-friendly districts. The 6-3 order, handed down on Thursday, grants a request by the state to overturn a federal judge's ruling that had struck down the new map in November.

Justices' Rationale

The federal judge erroneously placed itself into an ongoing primary campaign, creating much confusion and upsetting the delicate balance of power in elections, the order stated in explaining its decision.

The district court had earlier ruled that Texas had likely grouped voters according to their race – a practice known as illegal race-based districting – when it passed the new maps. It had mandated the state to revert to the maps established after the last decennial survey for the upcoming election.

Strong Opposition

Through a strongly worded dissenting opinion, Justice Elena Kagan criticized the majority's decision. She contended that it disregarded the work of the district court, pointing out that its ruling was actually authored by a judge nominated by former President Donald Trump.

Our position is above the district court, but our capability is not greater for resolving such fact-driven issues, Kagan wrote in a opinion co-signed by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Kagan added, This court's stay guarantees that Texas's redistricting plan, with all its enhanced favoritism, will govern next year's elections. And it ensures that many Texas citizens, without justification, will be grouped in electoral districts based on their race. And that result, as this court has pronounced repeatedly, is a infraction of the U.S. Constitution.

National Redistricting Struggle

The court's action occurs during a nationwide battle over the remapping of electoral maps. Texas is an essential part in campaigns to transform the U.S. House map to protect a slim Republican majority. Typically, redistricting happens after a new decade's census. Yet the move by Texas Republicans to proceed with a aggressive mid-cycle redistricting earlier this year triggered a wave among other states.

GOP lawmakers in including North Carolina and Missouri have also enacted new maps that could add a number of more GOP-friendly seats. Democratic lawmakers, in response, have countered with their own plans in states like California and Virginia, which could offset those potential gains.

Partisan Reactions

Lone Star State attorney general hailed the supreme court ruling. In a comment, he said the order upheld Texas's prerogative to draw a map that secures electoral outcomes supportive of Republicans. We are setting the precedent for restoring our country, through each electoral district and individual state, he remarked.

On the other hand, Democratic officials criticized the outcome. The Court's approval of this extreme, racially gerrymandered Texas GOP map is profoundly disappointing, said the head of a major Democratic campaign committee.

Another top House leader argued the court had once again eroded its standing by upholding a discriminatory 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.