Breaking: SCOTUS Blocks 8th Circuit's Missouri Map Ruling: 'This Was Error'

Welp, the Supreme Court has stepped in — again — in the ongoing battle over which congressional map Missouri will use in November, and this time, the message to the lower federal courts was unmistakable.

In a per curiam order issued late Friday afternoon, the Court granted an emergency stay sought by People Not Politicians and Richard von Glahn, blocking the 8th Circuit's September 21 ruling and the permanent injunction subsequently entered by Chief Judge Stephen Clark. The practical effect: Missouri will continue using its 2022 congressional map for the November election.     

The Court recounted its two previous interventions in the dispute: Justice Brett Kavanaugh's September 8 refusal to stay the Missouri Supreme Court ruling requiring use of the 2022 map, followed two days later by the full Court's stay of Clark's temporary restraining order requiring use of the newer 2025 map. That September 10 stay, the Court emphasized Friday, “remains in effect.”

Then came perhaps the sharpest line in the five-page order. After noting that the 8th Circuit nevertheless ordered entry of a permanent injunction requiring the 2025 map, the justices observed: “Given this Court’s two prior orders in this litigation, our conclusion that this was error should come as no surprise.”

Ouch.

The Court also cast doubt on the 8th Circuit's novel Article I, Section 2 theory, at least for purposes of emergency relief. Supreme Court precedent has never held that a state must use the same congressional map for its primary and general elections, the Court noted, meaning the merits were not “entirely clearcut.”

And the Purcell principle played a starring role. The Court stressed that Missouri's election isn't merely approaching — it has already begun. Ballots using the 2022 map have been printed and mailed, while absentee and military/overseas voting are underway. Switching maps now, the Court concluded, “would usher in electoral chaos.”

One other notable point: Missouri had urged the Court to dismiss the application because PNP and von Glahn lacked appellate standing, adopting Judge David Stras's position from his dissenting opinion below.

SCOTUS dispatched that argument in a footnote: “We conclude that at least one of the applicants has standing on appeal.” 

For November, at least, Missouri's congressional-map question finally appears to have an answer: 2022.

And that, as they say, is that.

Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.

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