Texas just scored a major win in the battle over its congressional boundaries.

The U.S. Supreme Court has stepped in to allow Texas to use its newly crafted congressional map for the 2026 midterm elections, overturning a lower court’s objection that the map was drawn with racial bias in mind, as the Daily Caller reports.

Earlier in 2025, Texas Republicans, with a nudge from former President Donald Trump, pushed through a redistricting plan designed to bolster GOP chances of maintaining control of the U.S. House, potentially adding up to five Republican-leaning districts.

Texas Map Sparks Legal Firestorm

A three-judge district court initially threw a wrench in the plan, ruling that Texas leaned too heavily on race rather than political strategy, violating constitutional protections under the 14th and 15th Amendments.

Texas didn’t take that lying down, arguing the lower court botched the evidence, ignored legal precedents, and failed to give lawmakers the benefit of the doubt.

Gov. Greg Abbott, backed by a Republican-led emergency appeal after a 2-1 federal panel sided with the opposition, urged the Supreme Court to act swiftly before critical campaign deadlines.

Supreme Court Steps In Decisively

On Nov. 21, Justice Samuel Alito issued an administrative stay, hitting pause on the lower court’s ruling to keep the map in play while Texas appealed.

Then, on Dec. 4, the Supreme Court issued an unsigned order officially granting Texas’s request to halt the lower court’s decision, ensuring the map governs the 2026 races for now.

Justices Alito, Clarence Thomas, and Neil Gorsuch backed the move, pointing out legal missteps by the district court and noting challengers failed to provide a workable alternative map that didn’t hinge on race.

Dissenters Cry Foul on Ruling

Not everyone on the bench was cheering, though -- Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, arguing the district court’s thorough review, complete with nine days of testimony, deserved more respect.

Kagan sharply criticized the majority for brushing aside factual findings without proper scrutiny, warning that an unconstitutional map might taint the upcoming election cycle.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court majority stressed that federal judges shouldn’t meddle with election rules too close to campaign season, lest they sow chaos among candidates and voters already gearing up.

Texas Leaders Celebrate Victory

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton didn’t hold back his enthusiasm, declaring, “In the face of Democrats’ attempt to abuse the judicial system to steal the U.S. House, I have defended Texas’s fundamental right to draw a map that ensures we are represented by Republicans.”

Paxton added, “Texas is paving the way as we take our country back, district by district, state by state.”

Let’s unpack that -- while Paxton’s framing paints a picture of conservative triumph over progressive overreach, it sidesteps the messy constitutional questions about fairness in redistricting that still loom large.