Justice Brett Kavanaugh agreed Tuesday night to take up Missouri's Republican-drawn congressional map for the third time this year, after a federal appeals court sided with the map just a day earlier — keeping alive a fight over whether Missouri Republicans can use new district lines drawn to flip a U.S. House seat before November's midterms.
Why it matters: The outcome decides which map Missouri uses in November — the 2025 GOP-drawn map, which splits Kansas City's 5th District and would likely cost Democrats a seat, or the older 2022 map that voters could still send to a statewide referendum. It's also a live test of whether courts can swap congressional maps between a primary already held and the general election that follows, a question with stakes for other states' redistricting fights as both parties battle for control of the House.
Driving the news:
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 Monday that Missouri must use the 2025 map, reversing course from the Missouri Supreme Court's order to revert to the 2022 map pending a statewide referendum.
The map's opponents, the group People Not Politicians, filed an emergency request for Supreme Court intervention Tuesday night — the case's third trip to the high court this year.
Kavanaugh, who handles emergency appeals from Missouri, agreed to take up the request and ordered supporters of the 2025 map to respond by Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET.
The Eighth Circuit's majority reasoned that swapping maps between the August primary — held under the 2025 lines — and the November general election would violate the Constitution's guarantee of “continuity in the constituency throughout all stages of a single election”; Judge David Stras dissented only on standing grounds, not the underlying constitutional question.
By the numbers:
2-1 — the Eighth Circuit panel's vote to reinstate the 2025 map.
3rd — this case's number of trips to the Supreme Court in 2026.
~1.2 million — Missourians who voted under the 2025 map in the August primary.
~300,000 — signatures People Not Politicians gathered to force a statewide referendum on the map.
What they're saying: Richard von Glahn, People Not Politicians' executive director, said of the group's emergency filing: “Ballots have been printed, and Missourians have already voted. Thousands more will vote before this order seeks to take effect. Officials should stop wasting taxpayers' money on pointless legal action and instead focus on administering our elections.”
The other side: Judge Stephen R. Clark, whose earlier ruling was upheld by Monday's Eighth Circuit decision, wrote: “This Court holds that Missouri's current plan to use the 2022 map in the November 2026 general election violates the Constitution. Only use of the 2025 map complies with the Constitution and federal law.” President Trump, celebrating an earlier round of the fight, called a Missouri Supreme Court ruling against the map a “Dark Day for ‘Justice.’”
What's next:
Supporters of the 2025 map must respond to Kavanaugh by Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET; the full Supreme Court could then rule before a permanent injunction locking in the map takes effect.
Missouri's absentee and mail-in ballots were set to begin going out Sept. 23, adding pressure for a fast resolution before more votes are cast under either map.
The bottom line: A years-long map fight in one state has become a live test of how far courts can go in changing election rules mid-cycle — and the answer could help decide which party controls the U.S. House next year.
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