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The New York Times and reporter Julian Barnes sued the Defense Department, Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Pentagon Press Secretary Sean Parnell for imposing new restrictions on Pentagon press credentials. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday morning, alleges that the Pentagon’s new policy gives Department officials “unbridled discretion” to suspend or revoke access, “is neither reasonable nor viewpoint-neutral,” and violates the First and Fifth amendments as well as the Administrative Procedure Act. (Complaint.) (NYT.)
The House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed former special counsel Jack Smith to testify behind closed doors about his two federal prosecutions of President Trump. (Letter.) (WaPo.) Smith’s lawyer stated his team was “disappointed” that the Committee rejected Smith’s offer to voluntarily appear in an open hearing. (Politico.)
During a hearing on Wednesday before Judge Amit Mehta (D.D.C.), Justice Department lawyers stated that President Trump had asserted executive privilege to block plaintiffs in a long-running Jan. 6 civil lawsuit from obtaining “some portion of” subpoenaed White House records about Trump’s actions surrounding the Capitol attack. (Politico.)
President Trump on Wednesday pardoned Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat, who was awaiting trial on charges of bribery, money laundering, and conspiracy in connection with an alleged corruption scheme involving the Azerbaijan government and a Mexico-based bank. (WaPo.) On Tuesday, the president pardoned Timothy J. Leiweke, a real estate developer charged earlier this year by Trump’s administration with orchestrating a conspiracy to rig the bidding process for a sports arena in Texas. (NYT.) Jamelle Bouie argued that President Trump is “wreaking havoc” with the pardon power. (NYT.)
The Atlantic reports that the Pentagon inspector general (IG) has concluded Secretary Hegseth violated department policy and risked exposing sensitive operational details by sharing classified strike information, including exact attack times, over an unapproved Signal chat. The IG’s report is set to be released today. (The Atlantic.)
According to the Wall Street Journal, Adm. Frank Bradley is expected to tell lawmakers in a closed-door briefing today that the two survivors of the Sept. 2 boat strike were trying to continue a drug run—making them and the damaged vessel, in his view and that of his legal adviser, legitimate targets for a second strike. (WSJ.) Tess Bridgeman, Margaret Donovan, and Ryan Goodman outlined questions that Congress should pose to U.S. officials regarding the strikes on alleged drug vessels. (Just Security.) Marc A. Thiessen wrote that “anyone who wants to charge Pete Hegseth with war crimes should charge Barack Obama first.” (WaPo.)
The family of a Colombian fisherman killed in a Sept. 15 U.S. boat strike has filed a complaint with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights accusing the Trump administration of committing human rights violations in an “extra-judicial killing.” (WaPo.)
Lawmakers on Wednesday asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to provide an update on the Justice Department’s progress toward releasing Jeffrey Epstein-related files by the Dec. 19 deadline mandated by the Epstein Files Transparency Act. (WaPo.)
Christine Kexel Chabot argued that the historical record cuts against the government’s claim in Trump v. Slaughter that Article II guarantees an indefeasible presidential removal power over FTC commissioners. (Yale Journal on Regulation.)
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. 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.
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.