Trump orders Missouri senators to pass new congressional map: 'Watching closely'

Kacen Bayless, The Kansas City Star on Sep 10, 2025

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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — As the Missouri Senate prepares to debate a gerrymandered congressional map, President Donald Trump has ordered Republican senators to fall in line and pass it with no changes.

“I will be watching closely,” the Republican president posted on social media.

The post came just hours after the Missouri House approved the map, which would carve Kansas City into three Republican-leaning districts. The effort has thrust Missouri into a national redistricting fight spearheaded by Trump’s administration.

Missouri and other Republican-led states, such as Texas, are redrawing their maps to ensure GOP control of Congress at the behest of Trump. In Missouri, the goal is to make it easier for a Republican to win Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s 5th Congressional District.

Trump made that effort explicitly clear, saying the new map would give Missourians “the opportunity to elect an additional MAGA Republican in the 2026 Midterm Elections.”

“The Missouri Senate must pass this Map now, AS IS, to deliver a gigantic Victory for Republicans in the ‘Show Me State,’ and across the Country,” the post said.

Trump’s post undercut arguments from Missouri Republicans that the mid-decade redistricting effort was for reasons other than appeasing the Republican president. Some House Republicans chafed at the accusation during floor debates this week.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, who opposes the gerrymandering attempt, quickly shared Trump’s post on social media.

“To any Missourian, remember this is not about you, your voice, or what you care about, whether you’re in Kansas City, Kingsville, or Carthage,” Lucas said. “If they’ll ignore you on this, they’ll ignore you when you need a hospital, jobs in your community, or schoolteachers in your town.”

Critics have cast the effort as an attempt by Trump to either divert attention away from, or maintain GOP control in spite of, his administration’s unpopular moves, such as its handling of documents related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Mid-decade redistricting is exceptionally rare and legal experts contend that it could violate the Missouri Constitution. Congressional districts are typically only redrawn once every decade based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The proposed map has faced intense pushback from residents in the Kansas City area. Thousands of people from across Missouri traveled to Jefferson City last week to testify against the legislation.

A large protest against the map is scheduled at the Missouri Capitol for Wednesday afternoon.

Under the map, Kansas City voters would be split into the 4th, 5th and 6th Congressional Districts. Cleaver’s 5th District would extend hundreds of miles east to central Missouri, while the 4th District would stretch from downtown Kansas City to the Ozarks region.

The map would use Troost Avenue, a historic symbol of racial segregation in Kansas City, as the dividing line between the 4th and 5th Districts.

After passing through the House, the Senate is expected to begin debating the map this week. Democrats, who staunchly oppose the effort, are expected to filibuster the map when it reaches the floor.

Senate Republicans will likely have to deploy a rare procedural motion to shut down the filibuster, risking deepening fractures in a chamber that is already embroiled in bitter animosity.

Republicans used the motion, called moving the previous question, for the first time in years just four months ago to put a new abortion ban on the statewide ballot and overturn a voter-approved paid sick leave law.