Supreme Court Rejects Trump-Backed Missouri Map

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday rejected an emergency appeal seeking to use a new Republican-favored congressional map in Missouri for the November midterm elections, clearing the state to conduct the vote under its 2022 districts. The brief order, issued without explanation and with no noted dissents, resolved a tense clash between state and federal courts that had left election officials with contradictory commands just weeks before ballots go out. The dispute began after Missouri's Republican-led legislature passed a new map in 2025 aimed at reshaping the Kansas City-area seat held by Democratic Representative Emanuel Cleaver, with the goal of giving Republicans seven of the state's eight House seats, one more than under the 2022 map. A group called People Not Politicians collected hundreds of thousands of signatures to force a statewide referendum on the map, submitting them in December. Secretary of State Denny Hoskins rejected the petition in August, on the same day as the state's primary, arguing that redistricting plans are not subject to referendum. The delay allowed the primary to be conducted under the new boundaries.