The United States Supreme Court has again blocked Missouri from using a Republican-drawn congressional map in the November election, restoring the state’s 2022 boundaries after an appellate court tried to revive the newer plan.
In an unsigned order issued Friday, the justices stayed rulings that would have required election officials to use the 2025 map. No justice publicly dissented. The map removed a Democratic-held district and could have helped Republicans gain a seat in the House of Representatives.
The dispute has moved repeatedly between state and federal courts. Missouri’s Supreme Court held that the 2025 map could not take effect unless voters approved it in a referendum. A federal district judge then ordered use of the newer boundaries, prompting the US Supreme Court to intervene on September 10. The Eighth Circuit nevertheless directed the district court on September 21 to enter a permanent injunction favouring the 2025 map.
The justices said that result conflicted with their earlier orders and risked electoral disruption after voting had begun under the 2022 districts. Their latest action stays the federal injunction and keeps the older map in place for the current election.
The order is procedural and does not finally decide every underlying redistricting question. It determines which map governs while the litigation continues and the election proceeds.
