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Judge Raúl M. Arias-Marxuach (D.P.R.) on Tuesday dismissed a habeas petition brought by a detained noncitizen in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, finding that the Trump administration’s policy of mandatory detention for noncitizens in removal proceedings is a permissible interpretation of the Immigration and Nationality Act. (Opinion and Order.) Politico published a rolling list that tracks how federal judges nationwide have ruled on ICE’s mandatory detention policy. (Politico.)
Judge Paula Xinis (D. Md.) on Tuesday issued an injunction barring ICE from re-detaining Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia on the grounds that his continued detention may violate due process where “no significant likelihood of removal” exists in the foreseeable future. (Memorandum Order.)
U.S. Southern Command announced on Tuesday that it conducted lethal strikes on three boats in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea that it asserted were “engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” killing 11 passengers on board. (X.) (NYT.) According to a New York Times tracker, the U.S. military since September 2025 has killed 144 people in 42 strikes on boats suspected of smuggling drugs. (NYT.)
The Washington Post reported that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth forced Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to terminate a senior military advisor, writing that the ouster “mark[s] the Pentagon chief’s latest intervention into the service’s internal affairs.” (WaPo.)
A grand jury convened in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia indicted the captain of an oil tanker that allegedly violated a U.S. blockade in December by transporting Venezuelan oil despite sanctions. The indictment charges the captain, Avtandil Kalandadze, with falsely flying the flag of Guyana in an attempt to evade capture by the U.S. Coast Guard and failing to obey an order by the U.S. Coast Guard to stop the tanker. (Indictment.) (NYT.)
An analysis by the New York Times found that Congress has rejected much of President Trump’s vision to aggressively scale back federal government spending, “leaving intact a vast set of federal education, health, housing and research programs that the White House had tried to slash or eliminate.” (NYT.)
Nick Bednar argued the Trump administration’s Office of Personnel Management misunderstood and misrepresented 150 years of Supreme Court precedent through its new rule stripping employment protections for civil servants. (Lawfare.)
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.