President Donald Trump’s declaration that the state’s original House district map was correct puts him at odds with Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court. | Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images Trump: Pennsylvania Republicans should appeal redistricting to the U.S. Supreme Court

Pennsylvania Republicans should appeal their state’s court-drawn congressional district map “all the way to the Supreme Court,” President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter on Tuesday, in order to stop Democrats from pursuing an agenda that Trump claimed will “raise taxes & waste money.”

The president’s push for further legal action followed the Monday release of the Pennsylvania House district map approved by the state’s Supreme Court and drawn with the help of Stanford University law professor Nathaniel Persily. Preliminary evaluations suggest that it could be highly beneficial for Democrats, showing 10 pro-Trump districts, compared with13 when the president won in 2016.


“Hope Republicans in the Great State of Pennsylvania challenge the new ‘pushed’ Congressional Map, all the way to the Supreme Court, if necessary,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Your Original was correct! Don’t let the Dems take elections away from you so that they can raise taxes & waste money!”

Republican leaders in Pennsylvania indicated in a statement released Monday night that they "anticipate further action in federal court" on their state's congressional map.

Morning Score newsletter Your guide to the permanent campaign — weekday mornings, in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Trump’s declaration that the state’s original House district map was correct puts him at odds with Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court, which ruled last month that the previous map “clearly, plainly and palpably violates” the state’s constitution because Republicans had gerrymandered it to favor the GOP. The Supreme Court was forced to draw its own map when Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled legislature failed to come to a compromise with Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf.

The Supreme Court-drawn map potentially favors Democrats by including extra seats in the Philadelphia suburbs, opening the possibility for Democratic gains in the House, toward the party’s ultimate goal of taking over the majority in the chamber.