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In a unsigned ruling, the highest judicial body cleared the way for Texas to implement a revised congressional district plan that may create up to five new Republican-leaning districts. The 6-3 order, handed down on Thursday, grants a request by the state to set aside a district court's block that had rejected the redistricting plan in November.

Court's Reasoning

The federal judge improperly inserted itself into an ongoing primary campaign, generating significant confusion and disrupting the delicate balance of power in elections, the supreme court said in detailing its action.

The federal court had earlier ruled that Texas had probably grouped voters by their race – a method known as unconstitutional racial sorting – when it enacted the new maps. It had mandated the state to revert to the maps established after the most recent national count for the upcoming election.

Stinging Opposition

In a strongly worded dissenting opinion, Justice Elena Kagan criticized the court's decision. She contended that it disrespected the work of the lower court, pointing out that its decision was actually authored 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 stated in a dissent co-signed by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

She continued, Today's ruling guarantees that Texas's new map, with all its increased partisan advantage, will control next year's elections. And it means that many Texas voters, for no good reason, will be grouped in electoral districts due to their race. And that result, as this court has declared repeatedly, is a infraction of the law of the land.

Countrywide Map-Drawing Struggle

The court's action is part of a countrywide contest over the remapping of electoral maps. Texas is an essential part in efforts to reshape the U.S. House map to protect a narrow Republican majority. Typically, map-drawing happens after a ten-year survey. Yet the decision by Texas Republicans to move ahead with a bold mid-cycle redistricting earlier this year set off a wave among other states.

Conservative legislators in states like North Carolina and Missouri have also passed redistricting plans that are estimated to yield a number of more conservative seats. The opposition, in response, have responded with their own plans in including California and Virginia, which are intended to balance those projected gains.

Political Responses

Lone Star State top lawyer welcomed the supreme court ruling. In a comment, he said the order defended Texas's prerogative to draw a map that secures representation supportive of his party. Texas is paving the way as we take our country back, district by district, state by state, he added.

In contrast, opposition party officials criticized the decision. The Court's approval of this extreme, racially gerrymandered Texas GOP map is profoundly disappointing, said the leader of a major Democratic campaign committee.

A top Democratic leader said the court had once again shredded its legitimacy by upholding a discriminatory map. Tonight's ruling by far-right justices on the supreme court is further proof that the extremists will do anything to rig the midterm elections. The gerrymandered Texas congressional map is a partisan and racially discriminatory power grab designed to subvert the will of the voters – particularly in Black and Latino communities, he added.