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In a unsigned order, the highest judicial body permitted Texas to use a redrawn congressional district plan that could add as many as five additional conservative-tilting districts. The six-to-three decision, issued on Thursday, grants a petition by the state to set aside a district court's injunction that had rejected the new map in November.

Court's Rationale

The federal judge erroneously placed itself into an active primary campaign, causing significant confusion and disturbing the delicate federal-state balance in elections, the justices wrote in explaining its decision.

The district court had earlier ruled that Texas had probably classified voters according to their race – a practice known as illegal race-based districting – when it adopted the redistricting plan. It had mandated the state to employ the boundaries drawn after the 2020 census for the next year's election.

Strong Dissenting Opinion

In a strongly worded dissenting opinion, Justice Elena Kagan objected to the court's action. She stated that it disregarded the work of the district court, noting that its ruling was crafted by a judge appointed by ex-President Donald Trump.

While our court is superior in jurisdiction, we are not superior in making these fact-intensive determinations, Kagan wrote in a dissent co-signed by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

The justice went on, This court's stay ensures that Texas's redistricting plan, with all its boosted favoritism, will govern next year's elections. And it means that many Texas citizens, without justification, will be grouped in electoral districts based on their race. And that result, as this court has stated repeatedly, is a breach of the constitution.

Countrywide Redistricting Fight

This decision occurs during a countrywide battle over the redrawing of electoral maps. Texas is an essential part in campaigns to alter the U.S. House map to secure a narrow Republican hold. Usually, map-drawing happens after a decennial population count. Yet the action by Texas Republicans to move ahead with a aggressive off-cycle redistricting earlier this year triggered a wave among other states.

GOP lawmakers in states like North Carolina and Missouri have also approved redistricting plans that could add several more GOP-friendly seats. Democrats, in response, have countered with new maps in including California and Virginia, which could offset those potential gains.

Political Responses

Lone Star State attorney general welcomed the High Court's decision. In a statement, he said the order protected Texas's fundamental right to draw a map that guarantees electoral outcomes favorable to the GOP. We are setting the precedent for restoring our country, through each electoral district and individual state, he remarked.

On the other hand, opposition party representatives decried the outcome. The Court's approval of this extreme, racially gerrymandered Texas GOP map is profoundly disappointing, said the head of a major party campaign committee.

A leading House figure argued the court had once again damaged its credibility by rubber-stamping a discriminatory map. The ruling demonstrates a willingness to subvert democracy. This Texas plan is a partisan, racially biased scheme to undermine voter will, especially in communities of color, he stated.