On Thursday, a federal appeals court panel was weighing an attempt to revive new Missouri congressional districts backed by President Donald Trump, even though the U.S. Supreme Court had blocked those districts from being used in the November election.

A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in the protracted dispute over whether the state should use the new Republican-drawn U.S. House districts, just as it did in its August primary.

But it was not immediately clear what the impact would be, even if the panel ruled in favor of the new map.

That is because the U.S. Supreme Court had previously blocked enforcement of a lower court order favoring the map, pending a potential appeal and an eventual decision by the high court.

Missouri is currently set to hold its November election using the same congressional districts it used in 2024 and 2022, following earlier decisions by both the Missouri Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Local elections officials said in a court filing that they are already printing ballots with those districts and face a Friday deadline under federal law to mail absentee ballots to overseas citizens and military voters.

State law requires absentee ballots to be available to all other voters by next Tuesday.

According to the filing by the Missouri Association of County Clerks and Election Authorities, any attempt to change districts at this late date would be "practically impossible" and would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

An attorney representing Republican U.S. Rep. Bob Onder and state Sen. Rick Brattin — the GOP nominee in one of the congressional districts — suggested to appeals court judges that there is still time to revert to the Trump-backed map.

As he had argued in lower courts, Missouri Solicitor General Lou Capozzi urged the appeals panel to rule that the U.S. Constitution forbids a referendum petition from suspending a congressional map passed by lawmakers until a statewide vote can be held on it — even though Missouri's top court has ruled that the state constitution requires exactly that.

The appeals court judges indicated they would rule quickly, noting any decision they make is likely to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"We have to make a decision, and then they have to make a decision, and then the unfortunate election officials have to deal with where everything is," said Judge James Loken, an appointee of former President George H.W. Bush.

Loken pointedly questioned the attorney for the group People Not Politicians, which had gathered petition signatures to force the new Trump-backed map to a statewide vote.

As attorney Chuck Hatfield argued that it was too late for the appeals panel to try to make changes to the election, an exasperated Loken eventually cut him off, declaring: “You’re out of time, dang it!”

The two other panelists — Judges David Stras and Justin Smith — are also Trump appointees.

Before his June appointment, Smith was an attorney who represented Trump in his unsuccessful appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court of a $5 million jury verdict in a lawsuit filed by the writer E. Jean Carroll.

Missouri's redistricting battle has been the longest, most complex and confusing among roughly a dozen states that sought to change their U.S. House districts over the past year.

Trump spurred the unusual spate of mid-decade redistricting when he urged Republican-led states to redraw districts to gain an edge in the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress and affect his agenda.

Last September, Missouri lawmakers enacted a new congressional map that substantially reconfigured a Kansas City-based district held by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver.

Brattin secured victory in a Republican primary in order to challenge Cleaver.

Republicans anticipated that the map might enable them to capture seven of the state's eight House seats — one more than their current tally.

Yet opponents submitted thousands of petition signatures in December in an effort to compel a statewide vote on the new districts.

Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins delayed until August — the very day on which the primary was conducted under the new districts — before rejecting the petition.

He contended that referendum petitions are not permissible in the context of congressional redistricting.

In September, the Missouri Supreme Court reversed Hoskins' finding, barring the new map from being used until voters could decide in a November referendum whether to uphold or reject it.

The court said the state must instead use the districts approved in 2022.

Yet that did not conclude the matter.

A federal judge in St. Louis subsequently issued a conflicting order prohibiting the use of any map other than the newly Trump-backed one.

That judge contended that switching districts between the primary and general elections could infringe upon federal rights.

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court halted that judge's order, but on Thursday the 8th Circuit appellate court proceeded to hear arguments on the issue.