The Supreme Court signaled that Texas is likely to prevail in defending its new congressional map, allowing Gov. Greg Abbott’s redrawn districts to remain in place for now while faulting a lower court for misreading evidence as the state races toward 2026 election deadlines.
In a brief order, the court said the district court failed to apply the presumption of legislative good faith and declined to draw a near-dispositive inference against challengers who presented no alternative map meeting Texas’s partisan goals.
Justice Elena Kagan dissented, warning the stay effectively locks in the contested boundaries for the 2026 midterms because of looming deadlines. “This Court’s stay guarantees that Texas’s new map, with all its enhanced partisan advantage, will govern next year’s elections for the House of Representatives,” Kagan wrote.
The decision comes as President Trump pushes a broader national redistricting effort aimed at reinforcing the GOP House majority heading into 2026, a campaign that began in Texas and has spread to other states.
