Republicans and President Donald Trump scored a major legal victory Monday when a federal appeals panel ruled in favor of Missouri’s newly drawn congressional districts. The three-judge panel said the state should use the Republican-drawn map in the November midterm election after conducting its August primary under those same boundaries. The map could give Republicans control of seven of Missouri’s eight congressional seats. The ruling remains paused for one week, however, giving the parties time to seek further review from the U.S. Supreme Court.
The decision came from the St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals amid a months-long fight involving state courts, federal courts, election officials, and a November voter referendum. Missouri lawmakers approved the new districts in 2025 after Trump encouraged Republican-led states to pursue mid-decade redistricting ahead of the 2026 elections. Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe signed the new map into law on September 28th, 2025. The fight has focused primarily on the Kansas City-based 5th Congressional District, represented by longtime Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver.
Missouri used the new districts during its August primary, allowing candidates to campaign and win party nominations under the revised boundaries. The appeals panel concluded that reverting to the previous districts for the general election would violate the U.S. Constitution. The judges directed a lower court to enter a permanent injunction barring the use of any map other than the new Republican-drawn districts. That directive followed an earlier temporary order favoring the same map that had produced another round of appeals.
The panel delayed the effect of its decision until September 28th at 5 p.m. Central Time, giving the map’s opponents an opportunity to return to the Supreme Court. As The Guardian reported, the Supreme Court has already twice prevented the Republican-backed districts from taking effect for the November election. The high court’s latest pause remains in effect. Missouri is still preparing to use the older congressional boundaries unless the Supreme Court allows Monday’s decision to stand.
The disputed map substantially reshapes Cleaver’s district. It moves portions of Kansas City into neighboring Republican-held districts and extends the remaining district eastward into more conservative rural communities. Missouri’s existing delegation consists of six Republicans and two Democrats. The revised lines could reduce the Democratic delegation to one member, giving Republicans another seat as they fight to preserve their narrow House majority during the final two years of Trump’s term.
The Missouri Supreme Court unanimously blocked the new map on September 3rd. The court sided with challengers who argued that a valid referendum petition had suspended the law until voters could decide its fate. A federal district judge then issued a temporary order requiring the state to use the new boundaries, reasoning that changing maps after the primary would “wreak havoc on the fairness and orderliness” of the election. The U.S. Supreme Court subsequently paused that federal order, returning Missouri to the districts used in the 2022 and 2024 elections while the appeal continued.
The appeals court heard arguments on September 17th. The panel consisted of two judges appointed by Trump during his first term and one appointed by former President George H.W. Bush. Reuters reported that the judges acknowledged the rapidly approaching ballot deadlines during the hearing. Their ruling now sends the case back toward the Supreme Court with Election Day less than two months away.
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Local election officials have already sent absentee ballots to military personnel and citizens living overseas. Those ballots were prepared using the older congressional districts. State law also required absentee ballots to become available to other Missouri voters on Tuesday. The Supreme Court is therefore likely to have the final say over which congressional map will govern the November election.
Featured image credit: National Atlas, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons