Justice Kavanaugh Rejects Bid to Reinstate Trump-Backed Missouri Congressional Map

Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on Tuesday, September 9, 2026, declined a request from Missouri Republicans to reinstate the Trump-backed congressional map that would have dismantled Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver's Kansas City-based 5th District, leaving the state's 2020-drawn map in place for November. Kavanaugh did not refer the case to the full Court or explain his order. The Missouri Supreme Court had unanimously ruled September 3 that a voter referendum petition against the new GOP map — backed by over 300,000 signatures — was 'legal, sufficient, and timely' and must go to the ballot before the map can take effect; Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway called that ruling a 'constitutional crisis' and vowed to appeal. Complicating matters, a separate federal judge had ordered Missouri to use the newer GOP map anyway, arguing a post-primary switch would confuse voters — leaving the state's district lines in an unresolved conflict between state and federal courts just eight weeks before the midterms.