Trump-Appointed Judge Rebukes President’s Power Grab in Scathing Ruling
A panel of federal judges has blocked Texas from using its new GOP-friendly congressional map in the 2026 midterms.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
President Donald Trump has suffered a new blow in his effort to hold on to the Republican House majority and avoid becoming a lame-duck president.
A panel of federal judges blocked Texas from using its new GOP-friendly congressional map in the 2026 midterms in a 2-1 ruling Tuesday.
The map was drawn at Trump’s behest and signed into law by Texas Governor Greg Abbott in August. It was projected to net the GOP five seats in the House of Representatives, which the party controls by the slimmest of margins.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Trump ally who called the special legislative session to redraw the state’s map in July, said he would appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.
Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images
Trump-appointed Judge Jeffrey Brown wrote in the decision that “substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 Map,” and slammed the Trump administration for pushing the gerrymandering effort.
The court ordered Texas to use its previous map that was drawn in 2021 instead. Republicans currently hold 25 of Texas’ 38 House seats.
Brown called the Justice Department’s claim that the 2021 map was unconstitutional, outlined in a July letter to Texas lawmakers, a “legally incorrect assertion.”
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Sent by the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, the letter demanded that Texas dismantle districts with non-white majorities, which are known as “coalition districts” and are drawn in order to adhere to the Voting Rights Act.
“Donald Trump and Greg Abbott played with fire, got burned -- and democracy won,” California Governor Gavin Newsom wrote in response to the ruling. California voters have approved new maps favoring Democrats after Texas’ redistricting.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Brown, whom Trump appointed in 2019, said the letter was “challenging to unpack” due to its “many factual, legal, and typographical errors.”
He was joined by Judge David C. Guaderrama, an Obama-appointee. Judge Jerry Smith, a Reagan-appointee, dissented.
Abbott, a Trump ally who cited the DOJ’s letter when he called the special legislative session to redraw the state’s map in July, said he would appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, who responded to Texas’ gerrymandering by launching his own redistricting effort, celebrated the decision on X.
“Donald Trump and Greg Abbott played with fire, got burned -- and democracy won,” he wrote. “This ruling is a win for Texas, and for every American who fights for free and fair elections.”
Other red states, such as North Carolina and Missouri, have also gerrymandered their maps at Trump’s urging, while Republicans in Ohio struck a deal with Democrats on a new map that makes two districts more red.
When Republican lawmakers in Indiana declined to move forward with the redistricting plan Trump sought, he lashed out in a furious Truth Social post.
Blue states have responded by initiating their own redistricting efforts. In November, California voters approved a map aimed at giving Democrats a chance to gain five additional seats.
Legal challenges are underway against the new maps in California, Missouri, and North Carolina.
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