(Texas Senate) – On Dec. 4, a ruling issued by the United States Supreme Court will allow the congressional redistricting maps ordered by President Donald Trump earlier this year to be used for the 2026 midterm elections.
This comes less than less than two weeks after Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, acting alone, temporarily stayed the ruling of the U.S. Western District of Texas, three-judge panel issued Nov. 18, that invalidated Texas’ 2025 congressional map, citing that the map approved by the Texas Legislature in August 2025 during special session, showed clear evidence of an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.
The panel’s ruling would have ordered the use of the maps passed by the Texas Legislature in 2021 to be used during the 2026 elections. In effect, today’s SCOTUS ruling leaves Alito’s stay in place until the full Supreme Court hears the case.
What this now confirms for many, including people of color, is that Trump’s Supreme Court, where conservatives hold a 6-3 majority, can no longer be counted on to protect the rights of minority citizens in this country. Just go ahead and consider what takes place under this administration – a weaponized Justice Department, foot soldiers including Republican-controlled legislatures – to be an all-out assault on hard won civil right era protections. To paraphrase the late great poet and activist, Maya Angelou, “When they show you who they are, believe them.”
What now? I would hope that those who were ‘disillusioned’ for whatever reasons in 2016 and 2024, can come to the cold and brutal reality that Trump, and many who follow him, do not have their best interests at heart. How else can you explain critical race theory, DEI and other misinterpretations that distort what it really means to be to victims of discrimination?
There is only one remedy for what is ailing me right now and I’m thinking many who are like-minded: VOTE!!
Sen. Royce Barry West is a member of the Texas Senate and has represented the Dallas-based 23rd District since 1992. He serves on the Senate Committees on Finance, Transportation, Education, Higher Education, and the Senate Select Committee on Redistricting. He can be reached through https://www.senate.texas.gov.