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By Jenna Sundel and Gabe Whisnant
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A panel of three federal judges ruled Tuesday that Texas cannot use a new Republican-drawn congressional map designed to secure the GOP additional U.S. House seats in 2026.
Why It Matters
The decision dealt a setback to President Donald Trump’s broader push for Republican-led legislatures in multiple states to redraw political maps to help preserve the party’s narrow House majority.
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In a sharply worded opinion, the court said that while politics influenced the 2025 map, “substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered” it in violation of federal law. The 2-1 ruling blocks Texas from using the map for now and signals that civil rights groups challenging it have a strong chance of ultimately prevailing.
Judges Block Texas From Using Redrawn Congressional Map
The 2-1 decision followed a nearly two-week trial in El Paso, Texas.
“The public perception of this case is that it’s about politics. To be sure, politics played a role in drawing the 2025 Map. But it was much more than just politics,” the ruling states.
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Civil rights groups representing Black and Hispanic voters said the map violated the federal Voting Rights Act and the Constitution by reducing the influence of minority voters.
The groups asked the court to block Texas from using the map while the case proceeds, which would require the state to use the map drawn by the Republican-controlled legislature in 2021 for the midterm elections. The panel of judges granted their request.
Judges appointed by Trump and former President Barack Obama formed the majority. A judge appointed by former President Ronald Reagan dissented. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he will file an appeal with the Supreme Court and ask for a stay of the order.
" I will be appealing this decision to the Supreme Court of the United States, and I fully expect the Court to uphold Texas’s sovereign right to engage in partisan redistricting," Paxton said in a statement.
Proposed Texas Redistricting Map
Texas has 38 congressional seats, and Republicans hold 25 of those seats. Democrats hold 13 seats, including two in districts Trump won in 2024.
The new map decreased the number of congressional districts where minorities comprise a majority of voters from 16 to 14. It also decreased the number of districts where no racial or ethnic minority has a majority, but together minorities outnumber non-Hispanic white people in the voting-age population.
Republicans argue that the map creates a new Hispanic-majority district and two new Black-majority districts. Critics have argued that these new districts have slim majorities and that white voters tend to turn out in larger numbers.
Which States Have Redrawn Congressional District Lines?
Missouri and North Carolina have both redrawn their congressional maps to yield a potential additional Republican seat in each state.
California voters approved a ballot initiative that could give Democrats an additional five seats.
How Often Does Redistricting Occur?
Redistricting for the House of Representatives happens every 10 years after the U.S. Census Bureau collects and compiles new population data, the agency said in 2023. It also said that litigation or changes in how a jurisdiction is managed could lead to redistricting at any time, but some states have constitutional bans on mid-decade redistricting.
What is Gerrymandering?
The word “gerrymander” was coined over 200 years ago to describe political manipulation in legislative map-making.
The term originated in 1812, after Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry signed a bill redrawing state Senate districts to benefit the Democratic-Republican Party. A newspaper illustration dubbed it “The Gerry-mander” for its resemblance to a salamander.
What People Are Saying
**Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement: "**The radical left is once again trying to undermine the will of the people. The Big Beautiful Map was entirely legal and passed for partisan purposes to better represent the political affiliations of Texas. For years, Democrats have engaged in partisan redistricting intended to eliminate Republican representation. Democratic states across the country, from California to Illinois to New York, have systematically reduced representation of Republican voters in their congressional delegations. But when Republicans respond in kind, Democrats rely on false accusations of racism to secure a partisan advantage."
Abha Khanna, a partner at Elias Law Group who represented a group of Texas voters challenging the new congressional map, said in a statement sent to Newsweek: "Today's decision is a critical victory for voting rights and a powerful rebuke of Texas's brazen attempt to dilute the political power of Latino and Black voters. It has been clear from the beginning that this mid-decade redistricting was a targeted attack on minority communities' constitutional rights.”
**DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a statement sent to Newsweek: "**Texas Democrats and the DNC fought valiantly for fair representation, and now, with this decision, the court has ruled that Texas Republicans cannot implement this blatant gerrymander in the next election. These maps were only introduced in the first place because Donald Trump and his Texas Republican allies are afraid of facing voters after the passage of their Big Ugly Bill. They expected Democrats to roll over, but instead, Democrats in Texas and across the country rose up and fought back."
What Happens Next
Paxton said he will appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
This article includes reporting by the Associated Press.
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Update 11/18/25, 2:57 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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