🔗 Share this article Supreme Court Approves Newly Drawn Texas Congressional Maps. Via an unsigned order, the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for Texas to implement a revised congressional district plan that may create several five new Republican-leaning districts. The 6-3 decision, handed down on Thursday, approves a request by the state to set aside a district court's block that had rejected the boundaries in November. Court's Explanation The federal judge erroneously placed itself into an ongoing primary campaign, causing considerable confusion and disrupting the delicate federal-state balance in elections, the justices wrote in explaining its action. That lower court had previously found that Texas had likely classified voters according to their race – a act known as illegal race-based districting – when it passed the boundaries. It had ordered the state to use the maps drawn after the last decennial survey for the forthcoming election. Sharp Dissent Through a sharply worded objection, Justice Elena Kagan took issue with the court's decision. She stated that it disrespected the work of the lower court, pointing out that its ruling was actually authored by a judge nominated by ex-President Donald Trump. While our court is superior in jurisdiction, we are not superior in making these fact-intensive determinations, Kagan wrote in a dissent supported by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson. She continued, This court's stay ensures that Texas's redistricting plan, with all its enhanced partisan advantage, will govern next year's elections. And it guarantees that many Texas voters, for no good reason, will be placed in electoral districts based on their race. And that result, as this court has pronounced year in and year out, is a breach of the constitution. National Map-Drawing Fight The ruling is part of a nationwide contest over the redrawing of electoral maps. Texas is an essential part in pushes to transform the U.S. House map to secure a narrow Republican hold. Usually, boundary revision occurs after a ten-year survey. Yet the move by Texas Republicans to initiate a brazen off-cycle redistricting earlier this year triggered a wave among other states. Republicans in states like North Carolina and Missouri have also passed redistricting plans that might create a number of more conservative seats. The opposition, for their part, have countered with revised boundaries in including California and Virginia, which are intended to balance those projected gains. Political Reactions The Texas attorney general hailed the High Court's decision. In a comment, he said the order defended Texas's prerogative to draw a map that ensures representation supportive of his party. Our state is leading the charge to reclaim the nation, one district and one state at a time, he remarked. In contrast, opposition party leaders criticized the ruling. The Court's approval of this extreme, racially gerrymandered Texas GOP map is profoundly disappointing, said the chair of a major Democratic campaign committee. A top Democratic leader argued the court had yet again eroded its standing by rubber-stamping a race-based map. The ruling demonstrates a willingness to subvert democracy. This Texas plan is a partisan, racially biased scheme to undermine voter will, especially in communities of color, he added.