Judge Stephen Clark's order landed at 4:58 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 8 — seven minutes before Missouri's ballot-change cutoff — and runs 14 days, to about Sept. 22.
The denial. Justice Brett Kavanaugh on Tuesday, Sept. 8, denied Missouri Republicans' emergency request to revive a new congressional map that would flip a Kansas City-area seat. He wrote one sentence, gave no reasoning, and did not refer the case to the full Court — leaving the Missouri Supreme Court's order to use the old 2022 map, which splits the delegation 6-2 Republican, intact. The new map, HB 1, would make it 7-1.
The countermand. Hours later, U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark ordered the opposite: a temporary restraining order requiring Missouri to keep using HB 1 for the Nov. 3 election.
The reaction. Trump called the state court ruling "horrible, ridiculous, and unConstitutional." CBS News described the result as "a federal-election-administration disaster," and The Hill wrote that "widespread voter confusion would inevitably follow." ([TS]Boone and Polk county clerks told the state court the voter file already carries both maps: "just pick which one.")
What next. Missouri election officials must finalize ballots by Sept. 19, eleven days after the dueling rulings and six and a half weeks before the election.
Catch up
- Sept. 6 — Missouri asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate the 7-1 map, with Kavanaugh giving opponents until Monday, Sept. 7 to respond.
- August — Missouri held its primary under the new HB 1 lines, which reassigned voters in 28 counties.
- Summer 2026 — The Missouri Supreme Court held the map never took effect and ordered the 2022 lines used in November.
- Dec. 2025 — Referendum organizers filed signatures against the new map, automatically suspending it under state law.
- A challenge to congressional district lines normally goes before a three-judge panel; Clark sat alone.