TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Republican groups seeking to add U.S. House seats in Florida by challenging the 2020 census suffered a major setback Tuesday as a federal court ruled the lawsuit was filed too late.

The suit alleges that the statistical methods used to calculate the census undercounted the state’s population, costing the state two seats in Congress. The legal challenge comes as President Donald Trump has been pressuring Republican-led state legislatures to redraw their congressional districts to benefit the GOP ahead of this year’s midterm elections.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court in Tampa threw out the suit but did give the plaintiffs a chance to amend and refile. The judges said the plaintiffs should have mounted their legal challenge within four years from the time the statistical methods were used.

The suit was filed in September 2025. The Census Bureau released its state-by-state population counts in April 2021.

An email to Robert Quincy Bird, an attorney for plaintiffs Pinellas County Young Republicans and University of South Florida College Republicans, was not immediately returned. U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, a Trump-backed Republican who’s running for governor, was also a plaintiff in the suit.

The 2020 census numbers have come under attack from Republicans, as revised census numbers from a successful lawsuit could be used in redistricting efforts.

Although the 2020 census numbers were released during the first months of Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration, the execution and final planning for the head count, including the decision to use the statistical methods, took place during Trump’s first term.