Federal judge orders Missouri to use GOP map

A federal judge in Missouri has ordered the state to use a Republican-favored congressional map for the upcoming midterm elections, overriding a state Supreme Court decision and creating further uncertainty in the state's redistricting dispute. U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark issued a 14-day temporary restraining order Tuesday, requiring Missouri to implement the map approved by the Republican-controlled legislature. Clark's ruling came minutes after U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh declined to hear an emergency appeal filed by state Republican officials seeking to revive the map. The state Supreme Court had previously ruled that the new congressional map could not be used in the November elections unless approved by voters through a referendum. That decision had been appealed to the nation's highest court. The federal judge, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, stated that allowing elections to proceed under a different map after primaries had already been conducted would cause significant disruption.