By MARK SHERMAN<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday temporarily blocked a lower court court ruling that found Texas\u2019 2026 congressional redistricting plan likely discriminates on the basis of race.<\/p>\n
The order signed by Justice Samuel Alito will remain in place at least for the next few days while the court considers whether to allow the new map favorable to Republicans to be used in the midterm elections.<\/p>\n
The court\u2019s conservative majority has blocked similar lower court rulings because they have come too close to elections.<\/p>\n
Alito handles emergency appeals from Texas.<\/p>\n
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP\u2019s earlier story follows below.<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Texas on Friday asked the Supreme Court<\/a> for an emergency order to be allowed to use a congressional redistricting plan pushed by President Donald Trump that is favorable to Republicans in the 2026 elections despite a lower court ruling<\/a> that it likely discriminates on the basis of race.<\/p>\n The state is calling on the high court to intervene to avoid confusion as congressional primary elections approach in March. The justices have blocked past lower-court rulings in congressional redistricting cases, most recently in Alabama and Louisiana, that came several months before elections.<\/p>\n Texas redrew its congressional map in the summer as part of Trump\u2019s efforts<\/a> to preserve a slim Republican majority in the House in next year\u2019s elections, touching off a nationwide redistricting battle. The new redistricting map was engineered to give Republicans five additional House seats, but a panel of federal judges in El Paso ruled 2-1 Tuesday that the civil rights groups that challenged the map on behalf of Black and Hispanic voters were likely to win their case.<\/p>\n If the ruling holds for now, Texas could be forced to hold elections next year using the map drawn by the GOP-controlled Legislature in 2021 based on the 2020 census.<\/p>\n Texas was the first state to meet Trump\u2019s demands in what has become an expanding national battle<\/a> over redistricting. Republicans drew the state\u2019s new map to give the GOP five additional seats, and Missouri<\/a> and North Carolina<\/a> followed with new maps adding an additional Republican seat each. To counter those moves, California voters approved<\/a> a ballot initiative to give Democrats an additional five seats there.<\/p>\n The redrawn maps are facing court challenges in California, Missouri and North Carolina.<\/p>\n