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Through a per curiam ruling, the nation's top court permitted Texas to implement a redrawn congressional map that is projected to include as many as five new GOP-friendly districts. The 6-3 decision, released on Thursday, upholds a request by the state to overturn a federal judge's ruling that had invalidated the redistricting plan in November.

Justices' Reasoning

The district court improperly inserted itself into an ongoing primary campaign, creating much confusion and disturbing the sensitive federal-state balance in elections, the order stated in explaining its decision.

The federal court had earlier ruled that Texas had likely grouped voters based on their race – a practice known as illegal race-based districting – when it adopted the new maps. It had instructed the state to revert to the maps created after the 2020 census for the next year's election.

Stinging Dissent

In a forcefully written objection, Justice Elena Kagan took issue with the majority's action. She stated that it disregarded the work of the district court, observing that its opinion was crafted by a judge selected by former President Donald Trump.

While our court is superior in jurisdiction, we are not superior in making these fact-intensive determinations, Kagan argued in a dissent supported by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

The justice went on, This court's stay ensures that Texas's redistricting plan, with all its enhanced partisan advantage, will govern next year's elections. And it guarantees that many Texas citizens, for no good reason, will be sorted in electoral districts because of their race. And that result, as this court has declared year in and year out, is a breach of the U.S. Constitution.

Countrywide Map-Drawing Struggle

The ruling occurs during a nationwide battle over the redistricting of electoral maps. Texas is a key piece in efforts to alter the U.S. House map to bolster a fragile Republican hold. Typically, redistricting takes place after a new decade's census. Yet the move by Texas Republicans to move ahead with a brazen off-cycle redistricting earlier in the summer triggered a wave among other states.

Conservative legislators in including North Carolina and Missouri have also approved redistricting plans that are estimated to yield several more GOP-friendly seats. Democrats, in response, have pushed back with new maps in including California and Virginia, which could offset those projected gains.

Political Responses

The Texas attorney general hailed the supreme court ruling. In a comment, he said the order defended Texas's basic authority to draw a map that ensures representation favorable to Republicans. We are setting the precedent for restoring our country, through each electoral district and individual state, he remarked.

Conversely, Democratic leaders decried the outcome. The Court's approval of this extreme, racially gerrymandered Texas GOP map is profoundly disappointing, said the head of a major party campaign committee.

A senior Democratic leader said the court had yet again eroded its credibility by upholding a racially gerrymandered map. This decision from the Court's far-right bloc proves extremists are willing to rig elections. The Texas map is a discriminatory power grab targeting Black and Latino voters, he concluded.