Please click here to opt in to receive the Executive Functions Roundup via email and to subscribe to Executive Functions.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced today that her office will close its criminal investigation into the Federal Reserve and Fed Chair Jerome Powell. She stated that the central bank’s inspector general “has been asked to scrutinize the building costs overruns” and said that she “will not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation should the facts warrant doing so.” (X.) (WSJ.)
The Department of Justice’s inspector general has opened an investigation into the government’s handling of Epstein files. The IG, William M. Blier, said in a statement that his “preliminary objective is to evaluate the DOJ’s processes for identifying, redacting, and releasing records in its possession” as required by the Epstein Files Transparency Act. (WSJ.)
Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York charged a U.S. Army Special Forces soldier involved in the operation to capture Nicolas Maduro with using classified information to place bets on a prediction market. The indictment alleges that the soldier netted “more than $400,000 in illegal profits” and subsequently attempted to conceal the proceeds. (Indictment.) (WSJ.)
The Justice Department has reportedly identified at least 384 naturalized citizens for potential denaturalization and plans to assign those cases to prosecutors across 39 U.S. attorneys offices. (NYT.)
The Pentagon announced on Thursday that “U.S. forces carried out a maritime interdiction and right-of-visit boarding” of a sanctioned vessel carrying oil from Iran in the Indian Ocean. It is the second such tanker seized by the U.S. military in the region this week. (NYT.)
The Justice Department announced on Thursday it will reclassify F.D.A.-approved marijuana and state-regulated marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug. The action came days after Trump publicly complained that the department had not moved quickly enough to implement his December executive order on rescheduling to increase medical marijuana research. (NYT.)
President Trump said on Thursday he has started a renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool using a contractor he knows from his years in real estate. (NYT.)
William Baude and Richard Re argued that criticisms of the Supreme Court’s Clean Power Plan memos conflate distinct doctrines on irreparable harm and overstate claims that the Chief Justice applied the wrong standard of review. (Divided Argument.)
Steve Vladeck contended that pushback on the New York Times’ Clean Power Plan scoop overlooks evidence that the Court applies its interim docket standards inconsistently, often favoring Republican administrations over Democratic ones. (One First.)
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.