JUST IN: SCOTUS Shocks GOP With Brutal Ruling For Midterms

The U.S. Supreme Court stepped into Missouri’s escalating redistricting war Thursday, blocking the state from using a new Republican-drawn congressional map in November’s midterm elections.

In a brief order with no noted dissents, the Supreme Court granted an emergency request from People Not Politicians and activist Richard von Glahn, putting the brakes on a lower federal court ruling that would have forced Missouri to use the new boundaries.

The move leaves the state’s 2022 congressional map in place for November, preserving districts that currently send six Republicans and two Democrats to Washington.

At the center of the fight is Missouri’s 5th Congressional District, represented by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver. The Republican-backed map approved in 2025 would have significantly reshaped Cleaver’s Kansas City-area district, potentially giving the GOP a shot at capturing seven of Missouri’s eight House seats.

“The law is the law, the Missouri constitution is clear, as was the Missouri Supreme Court,” von Glahn said in a statement.

He also unloaded on Republican Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, who had pushed to conduct the election under the new boundaries.

Hoskins “has shown that he cannot effectively do the job he was elected to do,” von Glahn added.

Thursday’s Supreme Court intervention temporarily halted a ruling issued Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark, who had ordered Missouri to use the 2025 map despite a conflicting decision from the Missouri Supreme Court.

Hoskins’ attorneys made an eleventh-hour plea to the justices, arguing that Clark’s order was the only thing “preventing the disenfranchisement of hundreds of thousands of voters” who cast ballots in the August primary using the new districts.

With November rapidly approaching, they argued it was the only practical way for Missouri to “conduct congressional elections that comply with the federal election calendar.”

The Trump administration also backed Hoskins, warning the justices that blocking Clark’s ruling would “jeopardize state officials’ ability to conduct a timely and lawful federal election.”

It marked the second trip to the U.S. Supreme Court for the Missouri map fight in a matter of days.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh on Tuesday rejected Hoskins’ earlier attempt to block a Missouri Supreme Court ruling that barred the state from implementing the 2025 map.

The dispute traces back to a Republican redistricting effort launched in 2025 as President Donald Trump encouraged GOP-controlled states to redraw congressional boundaries ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Missouri Republicans approved a new map that would make Cleaver’s district considerably more difficult for Democrats to hold.

Opponents responded by gathering more than 300,000 signatures for a referendum seeking to put the new congressional boundaries before Missouri voters.

Hoskins ultimately rejected the referendum effort, arguing that congressional redistricting legislation was not subject to Missouri’s referendum process.

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The Missouri Supreme Court unanimously disagreed.

The state’s highest court ruled Sept. 3 that the Missouri Constitution allows voters to approve or reject “any act of the general assembly” through referendum unless a specific constitutional exception applies. The court found no such exception for congressional redistricting.

It ordered Hoskins to certify the referendum and place it on the November ballot. The court also ruled that the 2025 redistricting legislation never took effect because of the referendum petition, meaning Missouri’s 2022 congressional map remains in force for this year’s election.

A separate federal challenge was then brought by Republican congressional nominee Rick Brattin, GOP Rep. Bob Onder and two voters.

Clark sided with them Tuesday, ruling that Missouri should conduct the general election using the same districts used during the August primary. That set up a direct collision between the federal court order and the Missouri Supreme Court ruling before the U.S. Supreme Court intervened Thursday.

The legal scramble has unfolded against a rapidly shrinking election calendar. Missouri’s deadline to finalize ballots passed Tuesday, while the first ballots are scheduled to go out Sept. 19.

Hoskins is also facing pressure back home.

The Missouri Supreme Court scheduled a Thursday hearing as it considers whether to hold the Republican secretary of state in contempt over his response to its previous order, adding another layer to an already extraordinary fight over which congressional lines Missouri voters will see this fall.

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