US supreme court approves redrawn Texas congressional maps

Major win for Trump as majority rejects lower-court ruling that found maps had been racially gerrymandered

Texas can use a redrawn congressional map that adds as many as five Republican-friendly congressional districts, the supreme court ruled on Thursday, handing Donald Trump a major win in his push to boost Republican seats ahead of next year's midterm elections.

In an unsigned order, the 6-3 conservative majority court granted a request by Texas to lift a lower court's ruling that struck down the state's new map in November. The supreme court's three liberal justices dissented.