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In a unsigned order, the highest judicial body cleared the way for Texas to use a revised congressional district plan that could add as many as five new Republican-leaning districts. The six-to-three decision, issued on Thursday, grants a petition by the state to set aside a federal judge's injunction that had struck down the redistricting plan in November.

Court's Reasoning

The district court wrongly interjected itself into an ongoing primary campaign, generating considerable confusion and disturbing the delicate federal-state balance in elections, the supreme court said in justifying its action.

That lower court had determined that Texas had likely classified voters based on their race – a practice known as racial gerrymandering – when it enacted the new maps. It had ordered the state to employ the boundaries created after the most recent national count for the next year's election.

Strong Opposition

With a strongly worded dissent, Justice Elena Kagan objected to the majority's action. She contended that it disrespected the work of the district court, observing that its opinion was actually authored by a judge nominated by former President Donald Trump.

We are a higher court than the district court, but we are not a better one when it comes to making such a fact-based decision, Kagan stated in a opinion co-signed by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

She continued, Today's ruling guarantees that Texas's new map, with all its increased partisan advantage, will control next year's elections. And it guarantees that many Texas residents, for no good reason, will be sorted in electoral districts because of their race. And that result, as this court has declared year in and year out, is a violation of the constitution.

National Redistricting Battle

The ruling comes amid a nationwide fight over the remapping of electoral maps. Texas is a key piece in campaigns to reshape the U.S. House map to bolster a fragile Republican control. Usually, redistricting happens after a ten-year survey. Yet the decision by Texas Republicans to proceed with a brazen off-cycle redistricting earlier in the summer set off a series of events among other states.

Conservative legislators in states like North Carolina and Missouri have also enacted redistricting plans that might create several more Republican-leaning seats. The opposition, meanwhile, have countered with new maps in states like California and Virginia, which are intended to balance those potential gains.

Partisan Reactions

Lone Star State attorney general welcomed the supreme court ruling. In a statement, he said the order defended Texas's fundamental right to draw a map that guarantees 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.

Conversely, opposition party leaders lamented the decision. It is deeply disheartening that the Court has endorsed this severely racially gerrymandered plan from Texas Republicans, said the head of a major party election organization.

Another leading Democratic figure stated the court had another time damaged its credibility by upholding a discriminatory map. The ruling demonstrates a willingness to subvert democracy. This Texas plan is a partisan, racially biased scheme to undermine voter will, especially in communities of color, he added.