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The majority of a three-judge panel of the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday ruled that immigrants arrested inside the United States after entering without inspection are generally eligible for bond hearings and rejected the government’s argument that they must be subject to mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A). (Opinion.) (Politico.)
Judge J.P Boulee (N.D. Ga.) on Wednesday denied Fulton County officials’ bid to force the FBI to return more than 600 boxes of 2020 election records seized pursuant to a January search warrant tied to a federal investigation into alleged election irregularities. (Order.) (NYT.)
The Department of Justice said Tuesday that it will ask the Supreme Court to allow the United States to substitute for President Trump in his appeal of the jury verdict against him in a defamation suit brought by E. Jean Carroll. In a filing supporting President Trump’s request to stay the Second Circuit’s mandate, DOJ said it plans to seek certiorari over the court’s refusal to substitute the United States as the defendant under the Westfall Act. Politico notes that the move, if successful, “would doom Carroll’s case” because the federal government cannot be sued for defamation. (Joinder.) (Politico.)
The Justice Department on Wednesday sued Colorado in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado over a 2013 gun-control law that prohibits the sale, transfer, or possession of a “large-capacity magazine” in the state. The complaint alleges that the magazine ban violates the Second Amendment. (Complaint.) (NYT.) On Tuesday, the government filed a Second Amendment lawsuit against Denver and the Denver Police Department over a 1989 city ordinance banning “assault weapons” within the municipality. (Complaint.)
The head of DOJ’s Civil Rights Division announced on Wednesday that a Title VI investigation found that the medical school at U.C.L.A. had illegally “discriminated against other applicants to benefit preferred race classes of Black and Hispanic” in its admissions process. (Notification.) (NYT.)
According to MS NOW, the FBI has reportedly opened a leak investigation that focuses on Sarah Fitzpatrick, the Atlantic staff writer who reported on concerns among bureau employees about Director Kash Patel’s excessive drinking and erratic behavior. A spokesperson for the FBI denied the reporting. (MSNOW.) (The Atlantic.)
The FBI on Wednesday searched the offices of state Sen. L. Louise Lucas, the Democratic president pro tempore of the Virginia Senate, in addition to a cannabis retail business co-owned by the lawmaker. Sources reportedly told the Washington Post and the New York Times the raids took place as part of a corruption investigation opened during the Biden administration. Lucas suggested the investigation was politically motivated. (NYT.) (WaPo.) (WSJ.)
Politico reports that the Department of Homeland Security is abandoning its streamlined training for new ICE agents and plans to dispatch veteran federal immigration officers to provide recent hires who completed the fast-track program with additional instruction. (Politico.)
Pending Interim Order Applications Involving the U.S. Government in the Supreme Court
Blanche v. Perlmutter: The government filed an emergency application on October 27 requesting the Supreme Court to stay a district court interlocutory injunction that temporarily reinstated Shira Perlmutter to her role as Register of Copyrights while litigation over her removal continues. Chief Justice Roberts formally set a deadline of November 10 for a response to the application. Perlmutter submitted a response on November 10. Blanche submitted a reply on November 12. The Court deferred the application for stay on November 28 pending the Court’s decisions in Trump v. Slaughter and Trump v. Cook.
Trump v. Cook: The government filed an emergency application on September 18 requesting the Supreme Court to stay a preliminary injunction issued by a district court that blocked President Trump from removing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. Cook filed an opposition to the request on the same day. The Chief Justice formally set a deadline of September 25 for a response to the application. Cook filed a response on September 25. On October 1, the Court deferred action on the stay application pending oral argument in January 2026 and established a supplemental briefing schedule. Additional amicus briefs were filed on October 29. Both sides filed supplemental briefs on November 19 and the Court heard oral argument on Jan. 21, 2026.
Mullin v. Doe: The government filed an application on February 26 requesting the Supreme Court stay pending appeal of a preliminary injunction issued by a district court preliminarily enjoining then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem from terminating temporary protected status designation for Syria. The government asked the Court to construe the application as a petition for a writ of certiorari before judgment and grant the petition. On March 16, the Court consolidated the case with a challenge to the Department of Homeland Security’s termination of Temporary Protected Status designations for Haiti and granted certiorari before judgment of the consolidated cases while deferring action on the government’s request for a stay.
Trump v. Miot: The government filed an application on March 11 requesting the Supreme Court to stay a lower court order postponing then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s decision to terminate temporary protected status designation for Haiti. The government also asked the Court to treat the application as a petition for a writ of certiorari before judgment and grant the petition. On March 16, the Court consolidated the case with Mullin v. Doe.