More: As Judge Jeffrey Brown, a Trump appointee, explains in the court's opinion, Texas lawmakers initially "didn't have much appetite to redistrict on purely partisan grounds" - even as Trump urged them to do so. But Texas Republicans appear to have changed their mind after the Justice Department sent a letter last July to Texas's top officials, which demanded that the state redraw several districts to change their racial makeup.

That letter, as I'll explain in more detail below, misread a federal appeals court opinion to mean that the state was required to remake its maps. According to Judge Brown's opinion, "it's challenging to unpack the DOJ Letter because it contains so many factual, legal, and typographical errors." He added that "even attorneys employed by the Texas Attorney General - who professes to be a political ally of the Trump Administration - describe the DOJ Letter as legally unsound,' baseless,' erroneous,' ham-fisted,' and a mess.'"

In reality, the Supreme Court has long held that "if a legislature gives race a predominant role in redistricting decisions, the resulting map" is subject to the most skeptical level of constitutional review and "may be held unconstitutional." When the Justice Department told Texas to redraw several of its congressional districts to change their racial makeup, it ordered Texas to give "race a predominant role." Oops.