Court Blocks New Texas Congressional Map

Appointed to the bench by President Trump, Brown was joined by U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama, an appointee of former President Obama.

U.S. Circuit Judge Jerry Smith, an appointee of former President Reagan, dissented. His opinion was not immediately filed on the public docket.

Republicans are bracing for a challenging midterm environment, and the redistricting effort — spearheaded by Trump, the White House and other national Republicans — has sought to give the party additional pickup opportunities.

The Texas map, which would have offered the GOP up to five pickup opportunities next year, was the first one that Republicans were able to successfully redraw and pass ahead of 2026. Republicans have also passed new maps in Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio, though litigation could potentially halt new maps elsewhere.

In Texas, the lawsuit was brought by individual voters, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the Texas State Conference of the NAACP, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) and Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), among others.

The Supreme Court has ruled partisan gerrymanders are a political question the court cannot strike down, but the challengers raised claims of racial gerrymandering and vote dilution.

They contested districts around Houston, Dallas–Fort Worth, the Interstate 35 corridor and the Gulf Coast.

Their case largely revolved around a letter Trump’s Justice Department sent Texas this summer contending some of its majority-minority districts were drawn unconstitutionally and urging the state to change their racial composition.

“The map ultimately passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor—the 2025 Map—achieved all but one of the racial objectives that DOJ demanded,” Brown wrote. “The Legislature dismantled and left unrecognizable not only all of the districts DOJ identified in the letter, but also several other ‘coalition districts’ around the State.”