Power Grab/Fire anyone who can stop him
The 8th Circuit orders Missouri’s Republican-drawn congressional map revived, and the Supreme Court blocks it
The September 21, 2026 ruling reached for the 2025 map after ballots on the 2022 lines were already printed; the Supreme Court paused it on September 25 and barred any court from requiring the 2025 map in 2026.
What happened
On September 21, 2026, a 3-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit held that Missouri could not use a different congressional map in November than in its August primary. It directed Chief U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark to enter a permanent order requiring the Republican-drawn 2025 map.
The Missouri Supreme Court had ruled on September 3 that the map never took effect because a referendum petition put it on the November 3 ballot. Ballots on the 2022 lines were already printed and being cast. On September 25, the U.S. Supreme Court, in an unsigned order with no public dissents, paused the ruling and barred any court from requiring the 2025 map in 2026.
Who benefited
Republicans who drew Missouri’s 2025 map would have gained a map that the state’s own supreme court said never took effect. The 8th Circuit panel ordered it used. The Supreme Court’s September 25 order paused that ruling and barred any court from requiring the 2025 map in 2026.
Who wanted something
The 8th Circuit panel’s ruling backed Republicans’ 2025 congressional map for November, after the August primary was held on a different one. The Missouri Supreme Court had ruled that a referendum petition kept the map from taking effect. The panel’s order would have overridden that.
Who lost out
Missouri voters, who had ballots printed and cast on the 2022 lines, would have faced a different map in November. The panel held that the state could not use a different map in November than in the August primary. The Supreme Court’s pause protected the ballots already printed.
Why it matters
The Supreme Court barred any court from requiring Missouri’s 2025 map in 2026, with no public dissents. The 8th Circuit order came 6 weeks before the November 3 election, with ballots already printed. The result is that Missouri votes on the 2022 lines.
Sources SCOTUSblogPBS NewsHour / APU.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit (via CourtListener) (primary)CBS News