Rep. Emanuel Cleaver says the Supreme Court "put this shameful and unlawful scheme to rest"
Emanuel CleaverU.S. Representative for Missouri's 5th District, posting on his official @repcleaver account
Cleaver said state officials had spent more than a year on an effort to "silence the voices of Missouri voters and steal a congressional seat". He said that after more than 305,000 Missourians demanded a say, the Supreme Court had put what he called a "shameful and unlawful scheme" to rest.
“For more than a year, state officials have spent precious time, energy, and resources on an effort to silence the voices of Missouri voters and steal a congressional seat. Tonight, after more than 305,000 Missourians demanded a say, the Supreme Court has put this shameful and unlawful scheme to rest. Power to the people.”
Original post
Original text
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Should Missouri be allowed to use its 2025 congressional map in the 2026 general election?
Missouri lawmakers passed a new congressional map, House Bill 1, in September 2025, and the State used it in the August 4, 2026 primary. On September 3, 2026, the Supreme Court of Missouri ruled unanimously that a referendum petition kept the map from taking effect and that the 2022 map remains in force for the November general election. Gov. Mike Kehoe, Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, Secretary of State Denny Hoskins and President Donald Trump said in early September that the primary map should be used in November, and the Eighth Circuit held on September 21 that using the 2022 map violates the U.S. Constitution. People Not Politicians, the Campaign Legal Center and the ACLU argued that Missouri law makes the 2022 map the only valid map and that ballots had been mailed under it. On September 25, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court, in an unsigned per curiam order that records no dissent, stayed the federal injunctions, said that under state law the 2022 map must be used, and said lower courts should not require use of the 2025 map in the 2026 election. Kehoe called that decision disappointing and said Missouri will follow the order.
Source and context
Original post
About this source
Post from Cleaver's official congressional account, a government-verified account, responding to the U.S. Supreme Court's September 25 order.
Original text
About this source
Unsigned per curiam order on an application that Circuit Justice Brett Kavanaugh referred to the full Court. It stays the Eighth Circuit's September 21 mandate and September 22 order and the district court's September 21 and 22 injunctions, keeps the Court's September 10 stay in place, and says the lower courts should not prohibit use of the 2022 map or require use of the 2025 map in the 2026 congressional election in Missouri. The text of the order shows no separate opinion or noted dissent.
Reporting
About this source
Report on the Supreme Court's September 25 order, with the sequence of court actions since September 3, the filings of Missouri and the plaintiffs, and county election officials' account of absentee voting under the 2022 map.
Before the quotation
The U.S. Supreme Court stayed the Eighth Circuit's mandate and the district court's injunctions on September 25 and said lower courts should not require use of the 2025 map in the 2026 election. The Missouri Independent reported that the 2025 map stretched the 5th District, which Cleaver represents, into rural counties along the Missouri River that the outlet described as Republican strongholds. It also reported that election officials began accepting absentee ballots on Tuesday, September 22.
After the quotation
The Missouri Independent reported that the deadline to seek certiorari in the Eighth Circuit case is December 21.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is use of the 2025 map in the 2026 general election. Cleaver welcomes the Supreme Court's order and describes the effort to use the map as an unlawful scheme to silence voters, which condemns that use. The closest competing label, “Mixed or conditional”, loses because he attaches no condition.
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The Dispute Index. "Rep. Emanuel Cleaver says the Supreme Court "put this shameful and unlawful scheme to rest"". First published: 2026-09-26. Last updated: 2026-09-26. https://disputeindex.com/events/2727-cleaver-said-state-officials-had-spent-more-than