Please click here to opt in to receive the Executive Functions Roundup via email and to subscribe to Executive Functions.
A panel of the Seventh Circuit on Monday partly stayed a district court’s orders enforcing and extending a 2022 consent decree governing ICE’s warrantless arrests in the Chicago area. The panel stayed the district court’s order requiring the release of individuals allegedly arrested without warrants in violation of 8 U.S.C. §1357(a)(2), but denied the government’s motion to stay the 118-day extension of the consent decree. (Opinion.) Bill Shipley analyzed the decision. (Shipwreckedcrew.)
Chief Judge James Boasberg (D.D.C) on Monday granted a motion allowing twelve former FBI agents to proceed pseudonymously in a suit challenging their terminations for kneeling at a protest in 2020. (Opinion and Order.)
Judge Mustafa Kasubhai (D. Or.) on Monday granted plaintiffs’ (21 states and the District of Columbia) request for a preliminary injunction blocking the Department of Agriculture from penalizing the states for not withholding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits from certain categories of lawful permanent residents. (Order.)
President Trump on Monday filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida seeking $5 billion in damages from the BBC alleging defamation and a violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practice Act for the way the news outlet edited his Jan. 6 speech. (Complaint.) (Politico.)
Twenty-four states on Monday urged the Fifth Circuit to deny a motion for an injunction blocking the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to detain and deport noncitizens without due process. (Amicus curiae brief.) After initially granting the injunction in September, the court has agreed to rehear the case en banc in January. See a previous Roundup for the September opinion.
Proceedings began on Monday in the federal criminal trial of Wisconsin state Judge Hannah Dugan, who prosecutors allege had directed a defendant to exit out the back of her courtroom to evade federal immigration officers. (WSJ.)
The Justice Department on Monday announced that it arrested four members of an “anti-capitalist and anti-government” group planning to detonate pipe bombs at two Los Angeles companies on New Year’s Eve. The Department said it initiated the investigation pursuant to President Trump’s September executive order labeling antifa a domestic terror organization and separate guidance directing the FBI to more aggressively pursue left-wing violence. (NYT.) See a previous Roundup for the executive order.
Liz Oyer argued that President Trump’s recent pardons erode “long-standing clemency norms” which undermine democracy and mark a return to a “spoils system” of government. (Atlantic.)
Pending Interim Order Applications Involving the U.S. Government in the Supreme Court
Margolin v. National Association of Immigration Judges: The government filed an application on December 5 requesting the Supreme Court to stay a decision from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals that would send a dispute over a policy governing the speaking engagements of immigration judges back to a district court, directing it to “conduct a factual inquiry [into] whether the [Civil Service Reform Act] continues to provide a functional adjudicatory scheme.” Chief Justice Roberts granted an administrative stay on December 5 and formally set a deadline of December 10 for a response. The National Association of Immigration Judges filed a response on December 10. Daren Margolin, Director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review, filed a reply on December 11.
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. The Court set argument for January 21, 2026, and both sides filed supplemental briefs on November 19.
Trump v. Illinois: The government filed an emergency application on October 17 requesting the Supreme Court stay a district court order barring the deployment of the National Guard to Illinois. Justice Barrett formally set a deadline of October 20 for a response to the application. Illinois and the City of Chicago submitted a response on October 20. President Trump filed a reply on October 21. On October 29, Justice Barrett requested supplemental briefs to be filed by November 10. President Trump, as well as Illinois and the City of Chicago, both filed supplemental letter briefs on November 10 and supplemental letter replies on November 17.