Federal panel leaves Clark order in place
Opponents of Missouri’s Trump-backed congressional map asked the US Supreme Court on Wednesday to block the state from using the newly drawn districts in November’s midterm elections. The challengers include People Not Politicians, a group opposed to the Republican-drawn map.
The emergency filing followed a federal panel’s decision to leave in place a Tuesday ruling by Stephen Clark, the St Louis-based chief US district judge. Clark’s order was swiftly appealed to the Eighth US Circuit Court of Appeals.
Clark, who was appointed by Trump, issued a temporary restraining order preventing Missouri from using its older congressional map in the November elections. The order requires the state to use the newly drawn districts that The Guardian reported favor Republicans. Missouri used those districts in its August primary elections.
That order conflicts with the result of an earlier emergency request at the Supreme Court. Justice Brett Kavanaugh denied Missouri officials’ request to use the redrawn congressional map in November.
The Guardian reported that the map was redrawn with Trump’s support to give the GOP an advantage in the midterms. Kavanaugh’s decision effectively left in place a Missouri Supreme Court ruling that returned the state to its 2022 congressional map.
Clark issued his conflicting order not long afterward. The competing court actions have left Missouri’s congressional elections uncertain less than two months before the midterms.
The Guardian reported that the elections will decide which party controls a closely divided Congress and affect the fate of Trump’s agenda for the rest of his term.
State lawmakers passed the revised map last September. The Guardian described it as targeting the fifth congressional district held by Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City, a longtime Democratic representative.
The map reassigned parts of Kansas City to two neighboring districts represented by Republicans. It also stretched the remainder of Cleaver’s district far eastward into rural Republican areas.
The Guardian reported that Trump urged Republican-led states last year to redraw congressional districts to their advantage ahead of November’s midterms, sparking a national redistricting battle. Texas acted first, followed by Missouri in responding to Trump’s push.
A photograph accompanying The Guardian’s report showed activists protesting redistricting maps inside the rotunda of the Missouri state capitol building on 10 September 2025. Michael Thomas of Getty Images received the photo credit.