Washington — A federal court on Tuesday blocked Texas from using its newly redrawn congressional map in the upcoming 2026 midterm elections, a setback for Republicans as they work to maintain their narrow majority in the House.

In a decision authored by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown, the court ordered the state to instead use House district lines adopted by the Texas legislature in 2021 for next year's congressional elections. The dispute was heard by a three-judge panel, which divided 2-1 in finding that voting rights and advocacy groups that challenged the redistricting plan were likely to prove that the 2025 map is an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.

The court found that plaintiffs will likely succeed in showing that race predominated over partisanship in the map-making pr

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