While U-S Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh rejected a stay requested by Missouri’s attorney general and other GOP leaders, a federal judge in St. Louis has issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) for two weeks that prevents the Secretary of State from using any Missouri congressional map other than the one approved by the GOP-controlled Legislature in September 2025.
There is confusion because the Missouri Supreme Court issued a 7-0 decision on Thursday that reversed the Cole County Circuit Court’s decision that the state Constitution’s referendum power does not apply to the Legislature’s congressional redistricting. The Missouri Supreme Court on Thursday ordered that the referendum and an initiative petition appear on the November ballot and that Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins use 2022 congressional district map. But federal judge Stephen Clark’s temporary restraining order contradicts that.