Folks, I almost spilled my coffee reading this one. The Supreme Court is back in the mix, reviewing a GOP-friendly congressional redistricting plan for Missouri, and I’m starting to think they’re just trying to keep things interesting. This is the third time this issue has landed on their desk, and I’m not sure what’s more surprising, the fact that they’re considering it again or that the Republicans are still pushing for it. The court had unanimously rejected the plan less than two weeks ago, but I guess that wasn’t enough to deter the GOP.
The emergency appeal will decide if Republicans can flip an additional House seat in the November midterm election, and it’s all part of an extraordinary push by Republicans to fight for the seat. I mean, you can’t blame them for trying, but it’s starting to feel like they’re beating a dead horse. The conservative high court has signaled it’s uninterested in getting involved in the dispute, but the Republicans just won’t take no for an answer.
A group opposed to the map filed the emergency case at the Supreme Court late Tuesday, a day after a federal appeals court ruled that Missouri must use the Republican-friendly map in November. The reasoning behind this is that voters had already selected nominees based on the newer map in the state’s primary election, so it would be too confusing to switch back now. I can see the point, but it’s not like they didn’t know this was coming.
The group told the Supreme Court that “ballots using the 2022 map have been printed and mailed, and absentee voting, both by mail and in-person, began today,” and that those ballots cannot be reassigned to new districts now. It’s a bit of a logistical nightmare, and I’m not sure how they’re going to sort it all out. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who handles appeals arising from Missouri, requested a response in the case by Wednesday afternoon, so we’ll see what happens next.
Missouri’s new map targeted the 5th Congressional District, held by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, by breaking up its Kansas City base and stretching it into rural and Republican-leaning parts of the state. It’s a clever move, but I’m not sure it’s going to pay off in the end. There would be seven conservative-leaning districts and one Democratic-leaning, a change from the current 6-2 split. It’s a big deal, and I can see why both sides are fighting so hard for it.
The whipsaw case of Missouri’s congressional map may be just the beginning of a long and messy election season. The justices have already shut down an effort by President Donald Trump to give the US Postal Service more power to screen mail ballots, and they’ve juggled a series of other redistricting disputes this year. University of Chicago law professor William Baude said it’s “a hundred to one” likely that the court would reject the GOP map again, and I’m inclined to agree with him.
The Missouri Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that the 7-1 Republican map adopted by the legislature at Trump’s behest last year could not be used because of a referendum challenge brought against it under the state constitution. State Republicans challenged that, appealing all the way up to the US Supreme Court, but Kavanaugh declined that request. You’d think that would be the end of it, but nope, the federal district court stepped in with a ruling in favor of the GOP map, and the case was once again appealed to the US Supreme Court.
The conservative 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals read the boilerplate language from the Supreme Court and decided to rush through its own ruling, concluding that the Constitution does not permit Missouri to use a different congressional district map in the November 2026 general election than it used in the August 2026 primary election. It’s a bit of a convoluted argument, but I suppose it’s worth a shot. The court ordered a federal trial court to once again require that the state move forward with the 7-1 map, and that’s what prompted the third round of appeals.
Even though the 8th Circuit ruled in favor of the GOP, it ordered the lower court to pause the impact of that decision until Monday to give the appeals a chance to play out. That means the Supreme Court is likely to either settle the dispute before Monday or issue a short-term extension of that deadline to give the justices more time to decide. I’m on the edge of my seat, folks, not.
In conclusion, this whole ordeal is a bit of a circus, and I’m not sure who’s going to come out on top. The Supreme Court has a tough decision to make, and it’s going to be interesting to see how they rule. One thing’s for sure, though: this election season is going to be a wild ride. And as I always say, when it comes to politics, you’ve got to expect the unexpected – and that’s exactly what we’re getting here. Bless their hearts, indeed!
Armchair patriot. Believes in the free market, cold beer, and that there’s always a guy named George behind every CNN segment.
Former remote-throwing champion turned #1 couch commentator on liberal panic in the media. Born in Texas (or so his mug says), he earned a degree in Fake Newsology & Beer Philosophy from YouTube University.
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