Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Friday granted a temporary reprieve to Texas Republicans, reinstating the state’s new congressional map—which could yield up to five additional GOP seats—while the high court reviews an emergency appeal filed by Gov. Greg Abbott.
Alito’s move, known as an administrative stay, does not indicate how the Supreme Court will ultimately rule on the map’s constitutionality. But for the moment, it allows Texas to continue using the GOP-drawn districts as the candidate filing window remains open.
The challengers to the map must submit a written response by Monday. After that, the Supreme Court is expected to decide whether the map will stay in place for the midterms or be blocked.
Practically speaking, Alito’s stay means candidates will keep filing under the new district boundaries until the Court issues further direction. Because Alito handles emergency requests from Texas by default, he had the authority to act alone — though he could still refer the matter to the full Court for a vote.
The map, passed by Texas Republicans earlier this year amid strong encouragement from President Donald Trump to strengthen GOP control of the U.S. House, set off redistricting battles in several states. With Democrats aggressively redrawing maps in places like California and North Carolina, Texas’s effort became part of a broader national fight over control of Congress.
Earlier this week, a three-judge federal panel ruled 2–1 that the Texas map was likely an unlawful racial gerrymander and ordered the state to stop using it. That ruling prompted Abbott to file an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court on Friday night.
In Texas’s application to the Court, state attorneys warned that the lower court’s abrupt intervention so close to key election deadlines would cause electoral chaos.
“The confusion sown by the district court’s eleventh-hour injunction poses a very real risk of preventing candidates from being placed on the ballot and may well call into question the integrity of the upcoming election,” the filing stated.
Texas’s candidate filing period closes December 8, and Abbott has urged the justices to issue a decision by December 1 to avoid upending the state’s election calendar.
If the Supreme Court ultimately allows Texas to proceed with the map, Republicans stand to gain multiple seats — a significant advantage in a year when control of the House will be fiercely contested. If the Court blocks the map, Texas may have to scramble to draw new lines under extreme time pressure, potentially throwing its elections into disarray.
For now, Alito’s order buys Republicans time and preserves stability during the crucial filing period. All eyes now shift to the full Supreme Court, which must determine whether Texas’s GOP-friendly map will shape the upcoming midterms or be put on ice.
[READ MORE: Court Upholds Conviction of Pro-Abortion Vandal in Major Win for Protecting Pro-Life Centers]
