Louisiana lawmakers are prepared to review a new congressional district map on Friday after Republican Governor Jeff Landry halted U.S. House primary elections last week.

The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee scheduled a hearing on Senate Bill 116, which proposes updated congressional boundaries based on recent precinct data and the 2020 census. The bill aims to replace the current map, which the U.S. Supreme Court struck down on April 29 as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.

In a 6-3 decision in Louisiana v. Callais, the court invalidated the 2024 map that created two majority-Black congressional districts, ruling it violated the Voting Rights Act by prioritizing race over traditional districting criteria. The map had been drawn after a prior federal court order required a second Black-majority district in the state, where Black voters comprise about 33% of the population.

One day later, on April 30, Landry issued Executive Order 26-038, proclaiming an "election emergency of unconstitutional maps" under state law. The order suspended the May 16 House primaries, just days before early voting was set to begin, and called the legislature back to draw a compliant map. Secretary of State Nancy Landry confirmed the postponement, pushing House primaries to at least July 15 or another date set by lawmakers.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, defended the move, stating Landry had "no choice" after the ruling. Landry argued that proceeding under the invalid map would "undermine the integrity of our system and violate the rights of our voters."

On Monday, the Supreme Court granted an emergency request to make its ruling effective immediately, rejecting a stay sought by opponents. Justice Samuel Alito, in a concurrence, dismissed dissenters' claims of court overreach, while Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson warned that it enabled chaos in elections.

The new map under consideration would likely revert to one majority-Black district, potentially shifting competitive seats toward Republicans in the narrowly divided U.S. House. Senate primaries proceeded as scheduled on May 16, creating a split election calendar.

Democrats and civil rights groups filed lawsuits challenging the suspension, arguing it disenfranchises voters who had already cast mail ballots and misuses the emergency statute meant for natural disasters. The Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus condemned the action, and U.S. Rep. Troy Carter warned of harm to military voters and the elderly.

Lawmakers face a tight timeline to pass a map before the November general election, with President Trump praising Landry's response as showing "tremendous Vision, Strength, and Leadership." The developments have sparked similar redistricting pushes in other Republican-led states like Alabama and Tennessee.