Supreme Court blocks Trump-backed Missouri congressional map

This marks the third time the high court has stepped in to stop the redistricting plan, which was drawn to help Republicans pick up another U.S. House seat. The map would have packed more Republican voters into the district held by Democratic Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, who was ousted under the original push.

The justices warned that swapping maps at this stage would create "electoral chaos" for voters and election officials alike. That reasoning held even though a different map had been in play, according to the court's order.

For Missouri voters, the ruling means no last-minute confusion about which district they belong to or who's on their ballot. It also blocks, for now, a Republican effort to squeeze out another House seat through redrawn lines rather than the outcome of an election. Cleaver keeps running in the district as it existed in the last two election cycles, not the reshaped version state Republicans wanted.

The case had drawn national attention as one of several redistricting fights playing out ahead of the midterms, with courts increasingly asked to referee how far state lawmakers can go in redrawing maps mid-decade. Three strikes from the Supreme Court on the same plan is a rare pattern, and it leaves Missouri Republicans searching for another path to that extra seat.