Supreme Court Halts Use of New Missouri Congressional Map
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The U.S. Supreme Court issued an emergency order blocking Missouri's newly drawn congressional map, keeping the 2022 boundaries in place for the November midterm elections.
The U.S. Supreme Court granted an emergency request to suspend a lower-court order that had allowed Missouri to use a newly drawn congressional map favoring Republicans in the November 3 midterm elections. The brief, unsigned order leaves the state’s 2022 district boundaries in effect for the upcoming vote.
The decision follows a series of legal challenges to the map, which was adopted by Missouri Republicans in 2025 and would have eliminated the Kansas City-based seat held by Democratic Representative Emanuel Cleaver. Plaintiffs, including the advocacy group People Not Politicians, argued that the map violated state constitutional provisions and sought a referendum to let voters decide.
Missouri’s Republican attorney general said the state will comply with the court’s ruling. The Missouri Supreme Court had earlier ruled the referendum petition legal and sufficient, and it blocked the new map pending voter approval. Federal Judge Stephen Clark had previously ordered the map’s use, a decision now suspended by the Supreme Court.
No justice dissented from the high court’s order, and it provided no explanation, as is typical for emergency matters.