Emergency application
Changing congressional maps
Don Scott, in His Official Capacity as Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates v. Ryan T. McDougle, Virginia State Senator and Legislative Commissioner for the Virginia Redistricting Commission
What did the Court do?
The Court denied the request on May 15, 2026: the lower court's ruling stays in effect while the appeal continues.
Emergency rulings are temporary and do not decide the underlying case.
What's being asked
Virginia's House speaker, Senate leaders, and the state ask the Supreme Court to pause a May 8 ruling by the Supreme Court of Virginia. The application excerpt does not explain what that ruling decided. The case is between those officials and state senator Ryan McDougle, a legislative commissioner for Virginia's Redistricting Commission, among others.
What the Court did
The Court refused emergency help and denied (turned down) the request for a temporary pause. The order gives no explanation, and the Court did not publish how the justices voted; this ruling does not decide the underlying dispute.
What it means
The emergency ruling only addresses the request for a temporary pause; it does not decide who wins the underlying dispute. The Supreme Court of Virginia's ruling remains in place. The docket lists no related Supreme Court case or argument date.
Sources
Facts on this page come from the Supreme Court docket, orders, and opinions for No. 25A1240. The answers restate that record in plain words; explainer copy is written from the record and the filings only.