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In a unattributed order, the nation's top court cleared the way for Texas to implement a newly configured congressional map that is projected to include several five new GOP-friendly districts. The 6-3 order, handed down on Thursday, upholds a petition by the state to set aside a federal judge's injunction that had invalidated the new map in November.

Court's Rationale

The lower court wrongly interjected itself into an ongoing primary campaign, generating significant confusion and upsetting the delicate balance of power in elections, the justices wrote in detailing its ruling.

That lower court had earlier ruled that Texas had likely classified voters according to their race – a method known as unconstitutional racial sorting – when it adopted the redistricting plan. It had ordered the state to revert to the districts established after the most recent national count for the forthcoming election.

Sharp Dissent

Through a strongly worded objection, Justice Elena Kagan took issue with the court's decision. She contended that it disrespected the work of the lower court, noting that its opinion was crafted by a judge nominated by ex-President Donald Trump.

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

The justice went on, This court's stay ensures that Texas's new map, with all its enhanced favoritism, will dictate next year's elections. And it means that many Texas voters, for no good reason, will be placed in electoral districts because of their race. And that result, as this court has declared repeatedly, is a infraction of the U.S. Constitution.

National Map-Drawing Fight

The ruling comes amid a national battle over the redrawing of electoral maps. Texas is a key piece in efforts to reshape the U.S. House map to protect a fragile Republican control. Ordinarily, boundary revision takes place after a new decade's census. Yet the decision by Texas Republicans to proceed with a brazen mid-cycle redistricting earlier in the summer triggered a wave among other states.

Conservative legislators in states like North Carolina and Missouri have also enacted redistricting plans that are estimated to yield a number of more Republican-leaning seats. Democratic lawmakers, meanwhile, have countered with their own plans in including California and Virginia, which could offset those projected gains.

Political Reactions

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

Conversely, opposition party officials criticized the outcome. It is deeply disheartening that the Court has endorsed this severely racially gerrymandered plan from Texas Republicans, said the leader of a major Democratic election organization.

Another senior House leader said the court had yet again damaged its credibility by rubber-stamping a race-based 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 added.