Enlarge Graphic by Todd Wiseman

In their latest order, issued on Thursday, the Texas redistricting judges said they're ready to draw maps. They gave the parties a week to file briefs that'll be consulted during the mapmaking, to list out the places where they agree and disagree.

"The parties should assume that this court will announce interim maps before any decision is rendered by the D.C. court..." they said in the order.

The papers are due at the end of the day on February 10, with responses due on the following Monday, February 13. And they'll hear arguments and confer with the lawyers on Wednesday, February 15.

The parties are still talking to each other, as the judges asked them to do, to try to reach agreement on new maps or partial maps. Those talks have surged and sputtered along, but the parties haven't announced any results.

A week ago, the judges told the parties that if they hadn't come to some understanding by Monday, February 6, that it would be impossible to have congressional and legislative elections on April 3 as scheduled.