US Supreme Court blocks Republican-drawn congressional map in Missouri

The US Supreme Court blocked Missouri on Thursday from using a redrawn congressional map that favours Republicans in November’s midterm elections, dealing a setback to President Donald Trump and the party’s odds of maintaining its slim majority in the House of Representatives.

The justices granted an emergency request by the map’s challengers to suspend a federal judge’s decision that allowed only the reconfigured boundaries to be used in the Nov 3 elections.

The court’s brief order was unsigned and gave no explanation, as is common when the justices handle emergency matters. No justice publicly dissented from the decision.

The challengers, including a group opposed to the Republican-drawn map called People Not Politicians, had swiftly sought the Supreme Court’s intervention after St. Louis, Missouri-based Chief US District Judge Stephen Clark issued his decision on Tuesday.

Clark’s decision came shortly after the Supreme Court had declined to intervene in a separate bid by Missouri officials to reinstate the redrawn map, which the state’s top court had blocked until it was put to a referendum.

The judge’s order appeared to conflict with the Missouri Supreme Court’s unanimous September 3 ruling blocking the map, leaving the state’s congressional districts in limbo and injecting further confusion into the high-stakes electoral fight.

Missouri Republicans adopted the new map, which dismantled the Kansas City-based seat of long-time Democratic ​Representative Emanuel Cleaver, in 2025 as part of a broader effort backed by President Donald Trump to redraw congressional districts in ways that could benefit Republican candidates.

Republicans hold a narrow 219-214 majority in the US House, including one independent who caucuses with Republicans.