Michael Turzai, in his capacity as Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and Joseph Scarnati III, in his capacity as Pennsylvania Senate President Pro Tempore filed [motion PDF] a motion with the US Supreme Court on Thursday asking the court to block a Pennsylvania Supreme Court order [JURIST report] that would require the 18 Congressional districts in Pennsylvania to be redrawn.

The filing comes after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled last week that lawmakers must submit a new map by February 15 or the court will create one for them.

The lawmakers argued that “judicial activism” may have played a role in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision. The filing noted, “for the first time in United States history, a state court, in attempting to play the role of ‘lawmaker’ has invalidated a congressional districting plan without identifying a violation of the U.S. Constitution or a state constitutional or statutory provision providing specific redistricting criteria.” The argument further notes that the US Supreme Court is “both empowered and duty-bound to intervene” because the “purported interpretation is not interpretation at all, but rank legislation at the expense of the branch of state government charged with legislation under federal law.”

The motion asks the US Supreme Court to stay the order for a new redistricting plan until after the current election year or to stay the order due to a pending appeal to the US Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court has not yet issued a response on the case.