A federal panel delivered a major setback to Texas leaders on Tuesday, blocking the state from using a newly drawn congressional map that Republicans had hoped would boost their numbers in the 2026 midterm elections.

According to Fox News, in a 2-1 decision, the judges ruled that the map was likely an unconstitutional racial gerrymander — a conclusion they said was supported by substantial evidence presented during a nearly two-week trial in El Paso.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey V. Brown, appointed by President Donald Trump, wrote the majority opinion alongside U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama, an Obama appointee.

“The public perception of this case is that it’s about politics,” the judges wrote.

“To be sure, politics played a role in drawing the 2025 map. But it was much more than just politics. Substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 map.”

Judge Jerry Smith, a Reagan appointee, dissented without explanation.

The ruling forces Texas to revert to the congressional map approved in 2021. The blocked plan would have reconfigured five districts in ways that favored Republicans — part of a broader effort by President Donald Trump’s allies to shore up the party’s slim House majority ahead of the next election.

Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio have all redrawn maps mid-decade, an unusual step typically reserved for the decennial census cycle. Florida and Kansas are considering similar moves.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton immediately vowed to appeal, saying the state would take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court and seek an emergency stay.

“For years, Democrats have engaged in partisan redistricting intended to eliminate Republican representation,” Paxton said. “But when Republicans respond in kind, Democrats rely on false accusations of racism to secure a partisan advantage.”

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Gov. Greg Abbott called the ruling misguided, arguing the redrawn map reflected the state’s political reality.

“Texas legislators redrew our congressional maps to better reflect Texans’ conservative voting preferences — and for no other reason,” Abbott said. “Any claim that these maps are discriminatory is absurd and unsupported by the testimony offered during ten days of hearings.”

Democrats, meanwhile, celebrated the decision. Party leaders said the ruling vindicated their efforts earlier this year, when Democratic lawmakers broke quorum for two weeks to stall the GOP’s redistricting push.

“Texas Democrats and the DNC fought valiantly for fair representation, and now, with this decision, the court has ruled that Texas Republicans cannot implement this blatant gerrymander in the next election,” DNC Chair Ken Martin said.

The fight comes as Trump urges Republicans to take aggressive steps to preserve their narrow House majority — a dynamic reminiscent of 2018, when Democrats regained control of the chamber.

“We must keep the majority at all costs,” Trump said on Monday.

Whether the Supreme Court will intervene remains uncertain. The justices are already weighing a separate case, Louisiana v. Callais, which could reshape how states may consider race when drawing congressional lines.

A decision in that case — and the Texas appeal — could have major implications for the 2026 elections.