The U.S. Supreme Court granted an emergency stay on Thursday, September 10, 2026, blocking Missouri from using the redrawn congressional map backed by President Donald Trump, leaving the state’s 2022 districts to govern the November general election even though Missouri’s primary was already run on the new lines.
The justices acted in a brief, unsigned order that offered no reasoning, as is common when the court handles emergency applications. No justice publicly dissented. The order read: “The application for stay presented to Justice [Brett] Kavanaugh and by him referred to the Court is granted.”
What the Stay Does Not Do
The action was procedural. The U.S. Supreme Court did not rule on the merits, did not declare the map unconstitutional and issued no opinion. It paused a ruling by Stephen Clark, who serves as chief judge of the federal district court covering eastern Missouri, while the litigation continues. With Clark’s order frozen, the Missouri Supreme Court’s order stands as the only governing court order, and the 2022 congressional map applies. It was the second time the map has been blocked.
Two Courts, Two Conflicting Orders
Missouri Republicans approved the redrawn districts, known as HB 1, in 2025, and Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed the plan into law in September 2025. On September 3, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the new districts had never legally taken effect and that the older map should be used unless voters approve the change. That court found unpersuasive the argument from Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, a Republican, that skipping the new map would produce confusion, expense and practical difficulties.
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway then filed an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who handles emergency appeals from Missouri, declined on Tuesday, September 8, to disturb the Missouri Supreme Court’s ruling, denying Hoskins’ request on his own rather than sending it to his eight colleagues.
Within an hour of that decision becoming public, Clark issued a temporary restraining order instructing the state to use the 2025 map instead. The federal case had been brought on September 4 by Republican Rep. Robert Onder, whose seat covers Missouri’s 3rd Congressional District, along with another congressional candidate and two individual voters. Clark found the federal challengers faced irreparable harm without his order, reasoning that many Missouri voters would otherwise have to choose in November among nominees they had no role in selecting.
Referendum organizer Richard von Glahn and the group People Not Politicians, both of which had intervened in the federal suit, went to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on the night of September 8 in an effort to put Clark’s order on hold. The appeals court refused on Wednesday, September 9, and the organizers turned to the justices that afternoon, filing the emergency stay application docketed as People Not Politicians v. Onder. Kavanaugh gave Hoskins and the remaining plaintiffs a deadline of 10 a.m. EDT on September 10 to file their answer. Von Glahn argued that the U.S. Supreme Court lacked the power to weigh in at all, because the Missouri Supreme Court’s ruling rested only on state law.
A Primary and a General on Different Maps
Missouri’s primary election was held August 4 under the new districts, and the November general election will now be conducted on the 2022 map. When the order came down, the deadline to send ballots to military and overseas voters was nine days away. The unresolved question is which districts apply in the fall.
Hoskins said in a statement that the Missouri Supreme Court’s order is now the only one in effect. “In accordance with that order, my Office is directing local election authorities to use the 2022 congressional map,” he said. The Missouri Supreme Court had ordered him to appear at a contempt hearing on Thursday, September 10, after he told local election officials to use the new districts; a federal judge declined to halt that hearing before the U.S. Supreme Court acted.
Reaction and the November Ballot
Ally Triolo, the Republican National Committee’s election integrity communications director, said in a statement that repeated legal victories had defended what she called Missouri’s fair and lawful map, and that the 11th-hour ruling pulled the rug out from under voters who had already cast primary ballots. “Changing the rules mid-election is reckless and wrong,” she said. Republican state officials have argued that switching districts before the general election would violate voters’ federal rights.
The redrawn map dismantles the Kansas City-based 5th Congressional District held by Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Missouri Democrat, shifting parts of the seat into neighboring districts and extending the remainder into heavily Republican territory. As drawn, it gave Republicans a strong chance of winning seven of Missouri’s eight U.S. House seats, against the current six-to-two Republican advantage. Republicans hold a 219-214 majority in the U.S. House, a figure that includes one independent who caucuses with them.
Opponents of the map submitted more than 300,000 petition signatures in December 2025 seeking a statewide referendum. Hoskins rejected the petition on August 4, the last day he could do so, and von Glahn sued in state court that same day. The Missouri Supreme Court ordered the measure onto the ballot, where it appears as Proposition A, a veto referendum, on November 3, letting voters decide whether the redrawn districts can be used in future elections.
Trump backed the redrawn map and previously called the Missouri Supreme Court’s ruling “ridiculous.” He has not publicly responded to Thursday’s order, which keeps Clark’s ruling on hold while the underlying litigation moves forward.