(Ben Sellers, Headline USA) The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday overturned a circuit court injunction that prevented Texas from implementing its newly redrawn legislative maps while the case is adjudicated.
Justice Samuel Alito temporarily halted the measure after a three-judge panel on Tuesday declared the new Texas maps to be racist, sending the case to the high court for emergency appeal ahead of a Dec. 8 deadline for candidates planning to run in next year’s races.
The case garnered nationwide attention after California Gov. Gavin Newsom threatened an in-kind response to temporarily suspend its own constitution in order to further gerrymander Republicans out of the far-left state.
While Newsom and other already-gerrymandered blue states have continued to double down, they have deployed longstanding “sue till blue” tactics, using activist judges to derail Republicans, who hold the House of Representatives by a razor-thin majority of five—soon to be four—seats.
Critics have pointed out that California’s passage of Proposition 50 to ignore its own constitution ironically will allow them to do exactly what they have accused Texas of doing.
The Justice Department is suing the state to block its illegal race-based gerrymandering.
🚨AG Bondi just CALLED OUT Gavin Newsom for attempting to create racist Congressional maps
DOJ is SUING him to block it
“They’re trying to create seats based on RACE! They can’t do it! And we’re going to hold them accountable!”
Democrats AGAIN prove they’re the party of racism pic.twitter.com/Uijjpr7avY
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) November 14, 2025
Meanwhile, in Texas, a dissenting judge in the circuit-court panel issued a scathing response that accused his two colleagues of “outrageous conduct” for bending the law to block Gov. Greg Abbott’s constitutional use of his authority.
“Any pretense of judicial restraint, good faith, or trust by these two judges is gone,” wrote Judge Jerry Smith, who accused his two fellow panel members—Judge Jeffrey Brown and Judge David Guaderrama of colluding to issue the anti-Republican injunction without him.
“It’s all politics, on both sides of the partisan aisle,” said Smith. “George and Alex Soros have their hands all over this.”
🔥"The main winners from Judge Brown’s opinion are George Soros and Gavin Newsom. The obvious losers are the People of Texas and the Rule of Law." Judge Jerry Smith pulls no punches accusing Judge Brown of misconduct in enjoining Texas's map. His full preliminary statement below pic.twitter.com/2RiC7N6IpH
— Eric W. (@EWess92) November 19, 2025
Whatever the court decides in the Texas and California redistricting cases to determine the outcome of next year’s midterm elections, the justices may also soon consider overturning a section of the 1964 Voting Rights Act that forces many Southern states to actively factor race into their maps.
In October, they heard oral arguments for Louisiana v. Callais, which challenges an earlier mandate that required Louisiana to carve out congressional seats for black-majority constituents—generally those who favor Democrats in what is otherwise a deep-red region.
A ruling to reverse the antiquated segregation-era law would yield Republicans the opportunity to secure an estimated 19 additional House seats, per Politico.
Eric Holder—the former U.S. attorney general and Obama “wingman” who has overseen the “sue till blue” efforts at the National Democratic Redistricting Committee—delivered a speech Saturday slamming the Supreme Court for considering the elimination of the race-based rules that have allowed blue states to dominate the redistricting battle.
“It’s the issue of race that exposes perhaps the deepest hypocrisy and most shocking incoherence,” Holder said at the Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers Foundation Gala, according to Politico.
“After all, the very same Court that has barred even indirect consideration of race in college admissions … then endorsed the use of race and racial profiling in violent ICE raids, detentions, and deportations without due process,” he said.
Ben Sellers is a freelance writer and former editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/realbensellers.
