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Roberts also took aim at how some lower courts have interpreted the Supreme Court’s landmark Bruen ruling, writing, “Some courts have misunderstood the methodology of our recent Second Amendment cases. These precedents were not meant to suggest a law trapped in amber.”
The Chief Justice even dismissed the idea that the Second Amendment would apply only to period-appropriate weaponry, saying otherwise it would cover nothing more than “muskets and sabers.”
He continued, “Why and how the regulation burdens the right are central to this inquiry. For example, if laws at the founding regulated firearm use to address particular problems, that will be a strong indicator that contemporary laws imposing similar restrictions of similar reasons fall within a permissible category of regulations.”
While the gun-rights ruling dominated headlines, it’s far from the only high-stakes issue the Supreme Court is dealing with. The justices are also now pulled into the escalating national battle over redistricting — and this time, the Department of Justice is taking a surprising stance.
On Monday, the DOJ lined up behind the state of Texas in a major showdown over newly redrawn congressional maps. The Republican-controlled Legislature’s map was temporarily blocked by a lower court, which ruled it was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. But the Biden-to-Trump transition in the DOJ flipped the government’s position — and now Washington is backing Texas.
This week’s filing came from Solicitor General John Sauer, representing the Trump administration. In his sharp rebuke of the lower court, he wrote, “This is not a close case,” arguing the judges had no solid legal basis for halting Texas Republicans’ map.
According to Sauer, the Legislature’s adjustments to five congressional districts favored the GOP for political — not racial — reasons. That distinction matters, because political gerrymandering is legal, while racial gerrymandering violates federal law. Sauer argued the court got the entire premise wrong.
The Texas map fight has already triggered political chaos. After redistricting was added to the state’s agenda by Gov. Greg Abbott, Democrats in the Legislature fled the state in protest, temporarily stalling legislative action.
Sauer said the lower court also misread the significance of internal communications cited in the lawsuit, explaining that the court “misinterpreted the letter’s meaning; and more importantly, the court misunderstood the letter’s significance to the legislature’s adoption of the 2025 map.”
Meanwhile, the plaintiffs — a coalition of voting-rights and immigrant-rights groups — insist the Legislature intentionally reshaped districts to break apart Black and Latino coalitions and dilute minority influence.
But Texas is not fighting this battle alone. Redistricting wars are erupting across the nation as both parties scramble for advantage heading into the 2026 midterms.
California pushed through a last-minute ballot measure designed to offset GOP gains in Texas. Utah adopted a new map reportedly benefiting Democrats. Virginia is quietly beginning another redraw that also tilts blue.
At the same time, GOP-friendly maps in Louisiana, Missouri, and potentially Indiana are awaiting court review — with Louisiana’s case already sitting in the Supreme Court pipeline.
In a twist, the DOJ also recently sued California Gov. Gavin Newsom over allegations that his state’s new maps unconstitutionally rely on race — a sharp contrast to their defense of Texas.
Justice Samuel Alito has already issued an administrative stay in the Texas case, signaling the Court could hand down a decisive ruling at any moment.
With the Supreme Court weighing both gun rights and political map-making at the same time, it’s clear the next few months could fundamentally reshape America’s legal and political landscape.
