The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday again rejected Missouri's use of a congressional map backed by President 
Donald Trump, leaving the state poised to hold its November election under districts passed in 2022. The ruling came amid dueling court orders: a federal judge on Tuesday had required use of the new map, while Missouri's highest court had ordered the 2022 districts, PBS NewsHour reported.
What did the court decide? No justice publicly dissented from the brief order, which did not detail the court's legal reasoning. The Trump administration had urged the court to keep the president's preferred map, aimed at gaining one more Republican House seat. Citing the ruling, Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins directed local election authorities to use the 2022 districts.
How did the fight reach the court? Missouri became the second Republican-led state, after Texas, to enact new districts after Trump urged Republicans last year to redraw House maps to their advantage, PBS NewsHour reported. The revised lines target a Kansas City-based seat held by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, aiming to help Republicans win seven of the state's eight seats. Opponents submitted hundreds of thousands of petition signatures in December seeking a statewide vote, but Hoskins waited until August, the day of the primary, to reject the petition. Last week the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that the new districts never became law and ordered the 2022 map used; Justice Brett Kavanaugh rejected the state's bid to block that ruling.
What changes for voters? The general election could use different House districts than the August primary, a rare situation that could switch candidate choices for more than a million potential voters, nearly 1 in 4 statewide, PBS NewsHour reported, citing an Associated Press estimate. No court has called for redoing the primary, though Alabama held a new one in August under revised districts.
What happens next? Republican U.S. Rep. Bob Onder, among those suing in federal court, said that "this isn't over" and that the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments on the merits of his case. The Missouri Supreme Court found Hoskins in contempt for violating its order, then declared his latest guidance had corrected the problem and imposed no consequences. "The courts have settled this, now it's up to Missouri voters to finish the job and vote NO on Proposition A," said Richard von Glahn, executive director of the referendum's sponsor, People Not Politicians Missouri.
Figures referenced: Donald Trump. — JudgeMarket.
