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Supreme Court Case TrackerThe Court, in plain English

Emergency application

Race in voting maps

Greg Abbott v. League of United Latin American Citizens

Granted
No. 25A608Stay applicationFiled by a private partyPresented to Justice AlitoFrom United States District Court for the Western District of Texas

What did the Court do?

The Court granted the request on December 4, 2025: the lower court's ruling is on hold while the appeal continues.

Emergency rulings are temporary and do not decide the underlying case. Justice Kagan, Justice Sotomayor, and Justice Jackson would have ruled the other way.

Filed Ruled 13 days after filing

What's being asked

The State of Texas, Governor Greg Abbott, and other state officials ask the Supreme Court to pause a district court order. Six groups challenge Texas's 2025 congressional map as racially discriminatory. The district court barred its use in 2026 and ordered Texas to use its 2021 map instead.

What the Court did

The Court put the district court's November 18 order on hold (stayed it) and granted Texas's request (gave it the emergency help it sought). The hold lasts until Texas files a timely appeal here; if filed, it remains while the Court acts on that appeal. Justice Alito supported the result for different reasons; Justices Thomas and Gorsuch supported it; Justices Kagan, Sotomayor, and Jackson opposed it.

  • Concurred in a separate opinion
  • Dissented
  • Wrote separately
  • Vote not published
Concurring · 3agreed with the result, wrote separately
  1. Thomasjoined Alito's writing
  2. Alitowrote a concurrence
  3. Gorsuchjoined Alito's writing
Dissenting · 3recorded against the Court's order
  1. Sotomayorjoined Kagan's writing
  2. Kaganwrote a dissent
  3. Jacksonjoined Kagan's writing
Vote not published · 3the order does not say how they voted
  1. Roberts
  2. Kavanaugh
  3. Barrett
The order records the positions of 6 of 9 justices. The Court usually does not say how each justice voted on an emergency application, so the rest are shown as not published.
Half of 82 rulings on applications where the Court asked for a response came 10 to 26 days after filing, and the median was 17 days; this one was ruled on 13 days after filing.

What it means

The temporary hold does not finally decide whether Texas's 2025 congressional map unlawfully discriminates by race. The underlying case continues in the Western District of Texas. The docket lists no related case for a final Supreme Court ruling, and no argument is set.

Separate writings

  • Justice Alito, joined by Justice Thomas and Justice Gorsuch, concurring

    Read (PDF)

  • Justice Kagan, joined by Justice Sotomayor and Justice Jackson, dissenting

    Read (PDF)

Sources

Facts on this page come from the Supreme Court docket, orders, and opinions for No. 25A608. The answers restate that record in plain words; explainer copy is written from the record and the filings only.

Checked October 8, 2026