'Huge': Experts warn of 'major consequences' as Supreme Court allows Texas to use MAGA map

Following the Supreme Court's decision to allow Texas Republicans to use their heavily gerrymandered new congressional map that attempts to delete five Democratic seats, former federal prosecutor Elie Honig and CNN anchor Jake Tapper agreed that the ruling could have significant implications beyond the specific map at hand.

"Jake, this is going to have major consequences for the 2026 midterms, as the justices appear to acknowledge. This means Texas will get to use its revised map, the new map that would give Republicans up to five more majority-Republican districts," said Honig.

"It's important to understand this is not just some procedural stay," Honig continued. "Sometimes we see the Supreme Court say we're just putting it on hold for now. The six conservatives in the majority here say Texas likely will ultimately win on this issue. And ... the disagreement here is, is this new map a racially based gerrymander? The six conservatives in the majority seem to say no. And the three liberals in a furious dissent — it's 17 of the 20 pages of this ruling — say yes, this was a racial gerrymander. It should have been struck down."

Honig then read one passage that he felt encapsulated the court's division.

"This is from the very end of the dissent written by the liberal justices. They write: 'This court's stay, this court's decision today guarantees that Texas's new map, with all its enhanced partisan advantage, will govern next year's elections for the House of Representatives. That result, as this Court has pronounced year in and year out, is a violation of the Constitution.' So you have your 6-3 split, conservatives on one side, liberals on the other. But Texas will get to use its changed pro-Republican map in 2026."

Tapper noted that the ruling will have impacts outside of just this particular map.

"The Texas Democratic Party just issued a statement that says in part, quote: 'The Supreme Court failed Texas voters today and they failed American democracy. This is what the end of the Voting Rights Act looks like: courts that won't protect minority communities, even when the evidence is staring them in the face,' unquote. This ruling will have huge political ramifications across the country, not just in Texas."

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