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The U.S. Supreme Court again rejected Missouri congressional maps backed by President Donald Trump on Thursday, a loss for Republicans trying to maintain control of the House in the pivotal midterm elections. The decision appears to clear the way for the state to use a map passed in 2022, as the state's highest court ordered. It's part of a pitched legal battle that has created confusion for voters and others shortly before ballots begin going out for the November elections. The Trump administration had urged the court to keep the president's preferred maps, which were aimed at gaining one additional...

A federal judge in St. Louis on Tuesday ordered Missouri to use the gerrymandered congressional map drawn during a 2025 special session, giving a direction to Secretary of State Denny Hoskins and other election officials in conflict with a Missouri Supreme Court order.

The Supreme Court today rejected a last-ditch effort by Missouri Republicans to use a newly drawn congressional map, which was designed to maximize their political power, for this year’s midterm elections. In a brief order issued by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the court left in place a Missouri Supreme Court ruling from last week that said the map could not be used while a ballot initiative moves forward that could lead to the redrawn map being tossed out by voters. Kavanaugh handles emergency requests that arise from Missouri. The 2025 Republican redistricting plan, part of a wave prompted by Trump, was...

The court said a referendum seeking to put the map up for a vote must be placed on the ballot, meaning the state’s elections this fall will take place under its old congressional lines. ================================================================== The Missouri Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the state’s redrawn congressional map cannot be used in this year’s midterm elections, dealing a blow to Republicans. The court ruled that a referendum on whether the state can use the map going forward must be included on the November ballot, meaning Missouri’s fall elections will take place under its previous district lines. The new map was designed...

A bipartisan six-member delegation from the U.S. House of Representatives met with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Astana on August 25, two days after Kazakhstan elected the first members of its new unicameral Kurultai. Tokayev called the timing symbolic and proposed closer dialogue between Congress and the new legislature. The delegation was led by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith and included Greg Murphy, Carol Miller, Ronny Jackson, Wesley Bell, and Ed Case. Smith said President Donald Trump had called him at 2 a.m., several hours before the meeting. Trump sent his regards, expressed appreciation for his relationship with...

While progressives celebrated several high-profile victories in Michigan on Tuesday, candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and the party’s anti-Israel wing suffered a series of notable defeats elsewhere, underscoring the limits of the movement’s electoral reach. The most closely watched race unfolded in Missouri’s 1st Congressional District, where Rep. Wesley Bell decisively defeated former Rep. Cori Bush in a rematch of their 2024 primary. Bush, a former member of the “Squad” and one of Congress’s most outspoken critics of Israel, sought to reclaim the St. Louis-area seat after blaming her previous defeat on pro-Israel outside spending. Instead,...

A newly-uncovered Biden White House memo from the administration's final days revealed plans that could have expanded Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to more than 3 million noncitizens while acknowledging that previous court challenges had blocked many of President Donald Trump's efforts to end the protections. TPS is meant for foreign populations experiencing crises like political unrest or natural disasters, and while Trump has tried to end the "temporary" provisions for Haitians, Nepalese, Salvadorans and Sudanese people, lawsuits from pro-migrant advocates have halted most attempts. "My investigation uncovered that the Lame Duck Biden White House tried to keep millions of illegal...

Turkey still does not meet the legal requirements to rejoin the F-35 fighter jet program, the US State Department said in a letter to Congress obtained by The Jerusalem Post. The July 22 letter, sent by the State Department’s Bureau of Legislative Affairs on behalf of US President Donald Trump in response to a letter from Rep. Wesley Bell (D-Missouri), reiterated that Washington’s policy toward Turkey’s participation in the F-35 program remains unchanged and is fully consistent with the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) and Section 1245 of the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. According to...

Former Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., is campaigning to return to Congress alongside a self-described Maoist activist and political organizer whose online videos and social media rhetoric has included urging leftists not to disavow Hamas or Hezbollah, has included calls to "unmake" America, applauded burning the American flag and endorsed political violence. The activist, Christopher Winston, has built an online presence across numerous platforms under the pseudonym "BlackRedGuard," posting and appearing in videos about "Maoist organizing in DSA," attacking leftists who say they do not support "Hezbollah/Hamas" and using rhetoric that appeared to condone political violence. In one video reviewed by...

in a letter to MLB Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr., AG Hanaway made it crystal clear: Missouri will not tolerate MLB punishing players for exercising sincerely held religious beliefs. “It has come to my attention that MLB is considering disciplining members of the San Francisco Giants who expressed their dissent from wearing ‘Pride Night’ hats—by either writing Bible verses on those hats or wearing the regular Giants cap. In response to these actions, MLB said, ‘The writing on the cap violates our rules, and consistent with normal practice, we have warned the players about future violations,’” Hanaway wrote. “Missouri will...

A pilot and 11 skydivers died after a private plane crashed in Butler, Missouri on Sunday morning. The aircraft crashed just after takeoff at 11.30am, a spokesperson with Bates County Emergency Management told Fox4. The plane took off from Butler Memorial Airport when it turned back for an unknown reason before crashing near Business 49 Highway. A source told the outlet that 11 victims were skydivers, and the other victim was the pilot. All passengers on the aircraft died. First responders and Missouri State Highway patrol are on the scene of the crash, and are scanning the area to see...

he Supreme Court likely sounded the death knell of state and local bans on so-called conversion therapy for minors, at least limited to talking, when eight justices blocked Colorado from punishing counselor Kaley Chiles for not affirming unwanted gender confusion in her young clients while letting her talk them into identifying as the opposite sex. Missouri's Kansas City and Jackson County are nonetheless trying to preserve their self-admitted "functionally identical" ordinances as long as possible, and in the city's case, validate an even further-reaching, all-ages public accommodation ordinance, in response to a challenge by licensed counselors Wyatt Bury and Pamela...

The Missouri Supreme Court has ruled that the state's redrawn congressional maps are constitutional.

Court issues opinions in 2 cases Map of Missouri congressional districts Photo by: Associated Press Who will represent Missouri's 4th Congressional District following Missouri First maps being signed into law. By: Addi Weakley Posted 26 minutes ago and last updated 13 minutes ago KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Missouri Supreme Court issued opinions Tuesday in two cases concerning the state’s latest redistricting map. Both opinions found the map meets constitutional requirements. As it is already in effect, it will stay in effect. "Today's Missouri Supreme Court rulings are a huge victory for voters," Gov. Mike Kehoe said in a statement....

A woman accused of fatally shooting a woman and wounding another in Missouri nearly six years ago was arrested in Florida this week, one day after she was placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, authorities said. KaShawn Nicola Roper was placed on the most-wanted list Tuesday, and a reward of up to $1 million was offered for information, the agency announced that day. She was arrested the next day in High Springs, around 20 miles northwest of Gainesville, by authorities acting on a tip from the announcement, the FBI said in a statement Wednesday. Roper is accused...

Federal authorities are warning Missouri officials not to release an illegal immigrant accused of raping and kidnapping a woman in a quiet college town on Easter Sunday — the second violent crime in the state in just weeks involving a suspect in the country unlawfully. The Department of Homeland Security announced Monday that Cristian Lopez-Gomez, a Honduran national who entered the U.S. illegally in April 2024 and was released into the country under the Biden administration, is now charged in the attack in Kirksville, home to Truman State University. Authorities say Lopez-Gomez raped the woman and held her against her...

Approximately 1,350 union workers at the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Independence, Missouri, are escalating their strike against Olin Winchester as they demand better wages and stronger contracts. Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 778 have been on strike since April 4 after overwhelmingly rejecting a contract offer from company management. ... The IAM Local 778 negotiating committee met with company representatives earlier in the week. The company indicated it would provide future dates to continue discussions. The Lake City Army Ammunition Plant is a critical facility in the U.S. defense industrial base. Workers...

Martin-Chavez’s wife started to worry at a little past 7 in the morni. Chavez usually arrives home at 7:15 for breakfast after he drops off their children at Milan Elementary. But Chavez never returned home that day. The Guatemala native was one of three people detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Feb. 24 in Milan, a town of about 1,800 people in north-central Missouri. As soon as her children’s passports come in, Chavez’s wife said, she will leave for Guatemala to reunite with her husband, who was deported there.

On Friday, Republican Congressman Sam Graves of Missouri became the 36th Republican -- and 57th House member -- to announce plans not to seek re-election, saying it was time to "pass the torch" to a new generation. In fact, more Republicans are retiring ahead of the midterms than at any point in nearly a century, according to an ABC News tally of retirement announcements and a review of historical data since 1930 compiled by the Brookings Institution. Heading for the exitsThat's a larger cohort than the 34 Republicans who did not run to keep their seats in 2018, when Republicans...

Senator Eric Schmitt outlined a proposal aimed at expanding the federal government’s authority to revoke citizenship from individuals convicted of certain serious crimes, arguing that current law makes denaturalization extremely difficult once someone has become a U.S. citizen.