JUST IN: Federal Court Blocks Red State’s New Congressional Map In Crushing Blow To GOP

Texas’ brand-new congressional map just got blocked after a three-judge federal panel ruled Tuesday that the state cannot use it for the 2026 elections.

The ruling is a serious setback for Republicans in Austin and Washington who had counted on the mid-decade redraw, pushed by President Donald Trump, to lock down as many as 30 of Texas’ 38 House seats and help protect the party’s narrow majority in Congress.

The map passed the GOP-led Legislature in August, and Gov. Greg Abbott quickly signed it into law. Civil rights groups immediately sued, arguing that lawmakers intentionally weakened the voting power of black and Hispanic Texans and created racially gerrymandered districts. During a nine-day hearing in El Paso earlier this month, the groups urged the judges to shelve the new map until a full trial.

It is not clear whether the state has any realistic legal path to revive the map before 2026. Voting rights lawsuits are handled by two district judges and one circuit judge, and appeals go directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The decision lands in the middle of Texas’s monthlong candidate filing period for the March primaries. The deadline is Dec. 8.

This fight is only beginning. A separate lawsuit targeting the state’s 2021 redistricting plans, including legislative and education board seats, went to trial earlier this year and is still pending before the same panel. The judges have suggested they may wait to see how the Supreme Court rules on a major voting rights case before issuing their full decision on Texas’s maps.

For Trump and his Republican allies, having Texas’s map in place for 2026 was a top priority.

“I’m convinced that if Texas does not take this action, there is an extreme risk that [the] Republican majority will be lost,” Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, said on the Senate floor before the map passed. “If it does, the next two years after the midterm, there will be nothing but inquisitions and impeachments and humiliation for our country.”

Download the FREE Trending Politics App to get the latest news FIRST >>