The United States Supreme Court has declined to reinstate a Republican-drawn congressional map in Missouri, dealing a setback to President Donald Trump and his party's effort to redraw district boundaries ahead of November's midterm elections. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who handles emergency applications from Missouri, rejected the state's appeal on Tuesday without referring it to the full nine-member court or explaining his reasoning. The decision leaves in place a ruling by Missouri's own Supreme Court, which last week unanimously ordered that the new map cannot be used until voters approve it in a statewide referendum.
The dispute has its roots in a broader Republican redistricting campaign that Trump launched last year, urging Republican-controlled state legislatures to redraw congressional maps to improve their party's electoral position. Missouri, a largely conservative state in the American Midwest, was among the first to respond, with Governor Mike Kehoe calling a special legislative session to reshape the state's congressional boundaries. The revised map took direct aim at the 5th Congressional District — a Democratic-leaning seat centred on Kansas City and held by veteran Representative Emanuel Cleaver — by splitting it among neighbouring Republican-held districts and extending its remaining portion into rural Republican territory. Opponents gathered hundreds of thousands of petition signatures to trigger a public referendum, but Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins rejected the petition, arguing Missouri's constitution did not permit referendums on congressional redistricting. The state Supreme Court disagreed, ruling that a constitutional provision allowing a referendum on "any act" of the Legislature covers redistricting legislation, and declared that the map had effectively been frozen since December, when the signatures were submitted.
The situation was further complicated on Tuesday when, hours after Kavanaugh's ruling, US District Judge Stephen Clark — a Trump appointee — issued a contradictory order temporarily blocking the state from reverting to its older map and requiring Missouri to use the new Republican-drawn districts for the November election. That order is set to last 14 days while courts consider the matter, and opponents have already filed an appeal. Missouri's Republican attorney general, Catherine Hanaway, said the state would comply with Clark's ruling. Legal experts and opponents of the map noted the tension between the two decisions, with one attorney arguing that a single federal district judge cannot overrule the state's highest court.
The broader stakes are considerable. Republicans currently hold a narrow majority of 219 seats in the 435-seat House of Representatives, with Democrats holding 214. Nationally, Trump's redistricting push was designed to help Republicans gain as many as 16 additional seats across eight states — including Texas, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida, Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama, and Missouri — while Democrats have pursued counter-redistricting efforts in states such as California and Utah that could yield up to six additional seats. Missouri's map had already been used in August primary elections, adding a further layer of procedural complexity. The Missouri Supreme Court's ruling means the redistricting referendum will appear as Proposition A on the November ballot, giving voters the final say — though the conflicting federal court order leaves the ultimate outcome unresolved for now.