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A divided Supreme Court on Monday stayed a lower court’s preliminary injunction restricting the Trump administration’s construction of a White House ballroom. The Court in a per curiam opinion held that the government was likely to prevail in showing that the plaintiff, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, lacks standing to challenge the East Wing project. Chief Justice John Roberts dissented, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson. (Opinion.) (NYT.) (SCOTUSBlog.) William Baude argued that the order leaves “the doctrine of standing in a little bit more of a mess than it was before.” (Divided Argument.)
The Trump administration on Monday requested the First Circuit issue a stay pending appeal of a lower court’s temporary restraining order blocking the government from implementing provisions of the U.S. Postal Service’s final rule regulating mail-in voting. Judge Indira Talwani (D. Mass.) had denied the same request hours earlier. (Emergency Motion.) (Electronic Order.)
An anonymous whistleblower told Sen. Richard Blumenthal that the Postal Service assembled its mail ballot portal in three months and carried on building it after courts barred the work. The disclosure, which Sen. Blumenthal sent to Postmaster General David Steiner on Monday, describes the process as “rushed,” “risky and haphazard.” (Letter.) (WaPo.)
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff J. Daniel Caine wrote in a letter to Sen. Elissa B. Slotkin that was made public on Monday that the military “has no plans” to deploy military personnel to polling places during the 2026 midterm elections or to use personnel to seize election-related materials including ballots or voting machines. (Letter.)
The New York Times reported on Monday that the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of Florida issued a grand jury subpoena to Daniel C. Richman, a past advisor to former FBI Director James Comey. The Times reported that the subpoena is related to the “so-called grand conspiracy case” in which the Justice Department has sought to connect separate inquiries into President Trump into one overarching scheme to harm his political prospects. (NYT.)
Jack Goldsmith and Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, former Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Deputy National Security Advisor, discussed how artificial intelligence has changed the biological threat landscape. (Executive Functions.)
Steve Vladeck argued that the “Purcell principle”—which provides that federal courts should not change voting or election rules too close to an election to avoid voter confusion—ought not apply to federal election-related rules, including federal restrictions on mail-in ballots. (One First.)
Nina Mendelson argued in a new paper that “the President said so” cannot replace the requirement to give reasons that applies to agency action. (SSRN.)
Pending Interim Order Applications Involving the U.S. Government in the Supreme Court
National Republican Congressional Committee v. Brown: The National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee filed an application on August 28 requesting the Supreme Court to stay a Fourth Circuit decision setting aside a Federal Communications Commission public notice on preferential broadcast rates for political advertising. On August 31, the Chief Justice requested a response by noon on September 3. The United States and the Federal Communications Commission filed a response supporting the application on August 31.