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This story was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
Texas is back to using its 2025 congressional map, at least temporarily, after Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito granted the state’s request to pause a court ruling that would have required using the lines legislators drew in 2021.
The high court has not yet decided what map Texas should use while the court battle over the legality of the map plays out over the coming weeks and months; Friday’s ruling is a short-term pause while they make that decision.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton celebrated the step as a victory, and said his office would “look forward to continuing to press forward in our case on the merits.”
President Donald Trump pushed Texas to redraw its map over the summer, hoping to secure five additional GOP seats to shore up the party’s narrow majority in the U.S. House through the midterms. On Tuesday, a federal court barred Texas from using the new map for 2026, saying there was evidence state lawmakers had racially gerrymandered in redrawing the lines.
Galveston District Judge Jeffrey Brown, a Trump appointee, authored the opinion ordering Texas to return to its 2021 map, while 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Jerry Smith vociferously dissented.
Alito requested that the plaintiffs respond to the motion by the end of the day Monday. The Dec. 8 candidate filing deadline is fast approaching, which the state made clear to the justices in its petition.
