The legal battle over Missouri’s congressional boundaries has landed before the US Supreme Court for the third time this month, with opponents of a Republican-backed map asking the justices to stop the revised districts from being used in the November midterm elections.
The latest challenge follows a decision by the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals requiring Missouri to use the newly drawn map, despite an earlier Supreme Court order that had blocked its implementation.
The dispute has created uncertainty over which congressional boundaries Missouri voters will use when they head to the polls on November 3.
Republican lawmakers approved the new map in 2025 as part of an effort to reshape the state’s congressional districts. The plan eliminated a Kansas City-area district represented by longtime Democratic Representative Emanuel Cleaver.
The redistricting effort was backed by President Donald Trump and Missouri Republicans, who sought boundaries more favorable to Republican candidates.
Missouri’s Supreme Court, however, ruled unanimously on September 3 that the new map could not be used for the upcoming elections unless Missouri voters first approved it through a referendum.
State officials subsequently asked the US Supreme Court to intervene. The request was rejected on September 8.
The dispute then shifted to federal court in St. Louis, where US District Judge Stephen Clark issued a temporary order requiring the 2025 congressional map to be used. The case had been brought by Republican Representative Bob Onder and other plaintiffs after the Missouri Supreme Court ruling.
The opponents of the map again appealed to the US Supreme Court. On September 10, the justices blocked Missouri from using the newly drawn districts. The unsigned order did not provide an explanation, and no justice publicly dissented.
Following that ruling, Republican officials indicated that Missouri’s congressional elections would proceed under the previous map, which had been adopted in 2022.
The litigation did not end there.
The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals subsequently reviewed Clark’s temporary order and on Monday upheld his decision. The appellate panel also directed the district court to make the order permanent, effectively reviving the requirement that Missouri use the Republican-backed map.
That ruling has prompted the latest emergency appeal to the Supreme Court.
The challengers, including People Not Politicians, are asking the justices to block the 8th Circuit’s decision and prevent the revised boundaries from being used in November.
The timing adds urgency to the dispute, with the midterm elections approaching and control of Congress at stake. The repeated intervention of state and federal courts has left Missouri’s congressional map at the center of an unusually complex legal fight, with the Supreme Court now being asked to resolve the latest clash.
