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Through a per curiam decision, the nation's top court permitted Texas to employ a revised congressional boundary scheme that could add several five new GOP-friendly districts. The six-to-three decision, handed down on Thursday, grants a appeal by the state to overturn a federal judge's ruling that had rejected the new map in November.

Justices' Rationale

The lower court wrongly interjected itself into an ongoing primary campaign, causing considerable confusion and disturbing the delicate federal-state balance in elections, the justices wrote in explaining its ruling.

The federal court had earlier ruled that Texas had probably classified voters according to their race – a act known as illegal race-based districting – when it passed the new maps. It had ordered the state to employ the boundaries created after the 2020 census for the upcoming election.

Strong Dissent

With a strongly worded objection, Justice Elena Kagan objected to the court's action. She contended that it disregarded the work of the lower court, pointing out that its decision was crafted by a judge appointed by former President Donald Trump.

While our court is superior in jurisdiction, we are not superior in making these fact-intensive determinations, Kagan wrote in a dissent supported by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Kagan added, Today's ruling solidifies that Texas's new map, with all its boosted favoritism, will govern next year's elections. And it guarantees that many Texas residents, for no good reason, will be grouped in electoral districts because of their race. And that result, as this court has pronounced year in and year out, is a breach of the U.S. Constitution.

National Map-Drawing Struggle

The court's action comes amid a nationwide fight over the remapping of electoral maps. Texas is a crucial component in pushes to alter the U.S. House map to secure a slim Republican hold. Ordinarily, redistricting happens after a decennial population count. Yet the decision by Texas Republicans to move ahead with a aggressive off-cycle redistricting earlier in the summer triggered a wave among other states.

Conservative legislators in states like North Carolina and Missouri have also enacted new maps that are estimated to yield several additional GOP-friendly seats. Democratic lawmakers, for their part, have countered with their own plans in states like California and Virginia, which are intended to balance those potential gains.

Political Reactions

The Texas top lawyer hailed the High Court's decision. In a comment, he said the order defended Texas's basic authority to draw a map that secures electoral outcomes supportive of the GOP. Our state is leading the charge to reclaim the nation, one district and one state at a time, he added.

On the other hand, Democratic leaders decried the outcome. It is deeply disheartening that the Court has endorsed this severely racially gerrymandered plan from Texas Republicans, said the chair of a major Democratic election organization.

Another senior House figure said the court had another time damaged its legitimacy by approving a racially gerrymandered 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 stated.