A panel of three federal judges has blocked Texas from using a new congressional map that Republicans drew in hopes of picking up five U.S. House seats. That map had touched off a nationwide redistricting battle and is a major piece of President Donald Trump's efforts to preserve a slim Republican majority ahead of the 2026 elections. In a 2-1 ruling Tuesday, a panel of federal judges in El Paso sided with opponents who argued that Texas' unusual summer redrawing of congressional districts would harm Black and Hispanic residents. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott vowed a swift appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and defended the map.

The Supreme Court appears ready to gut a key tool of the Voting Rights Act that's helped root out racial discrimination in voting for more than a half century. Such a change would boost Republican electoral prospects, particularly across the South. During 2 1/2 hours of arguments Wednesday, the court's six conservative justices seemed inclined to effectively strike down a Black majority congressional district in Louisiana because it relied too heavily on race. If that is the outcome, it would mark a fundamental change in the 1965 voting rights law that was the centerpiece legislation of the Civil Rights Movement. The court is expected to rule by early summer in 2026.