Programming Note: Executive Functions Roundup has been operating on a limited holiday schedule for the week of Memorial Day. The Roundup will return to its regular daily schedule on June 1.
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Judge Leonie M. Brinkema (E.D. Va.) on Thursday issued a preliminary injunction blocking the government from taking any further action related to the creation and operation of the Anti-Weaponization Fund. The judge rescheduled a hearing in the case for Friday, June 12 at 10 a.m. (Order.) (Politico.) For background on the legal challenge, see a prior Roundup.
The Southern Poverty Law Center filed a motion to dismiss an indictment for vindictive prosecution on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. SPLC argued that the Justice Department indicted the nonprofit on charges of financial fraud as a result of a “retributive campaign” by President Trump “in which he directed his Justice Department to go after those individuals and groups he deemed his political enemies.” (Motion.) (NYT.) For background on the prosecution, see the Roundup Library.
Judge Cathy Seibel (S.D.N.Y.) issued a preliminary injunction on Tuesday enjoining the United States Military Academy from enforcing a speech policy adopted pursuant to a presidential executive order that prohibited military academic institutions from promoting “un-American” and “divisive” theories, including that America’s founding documents are “racist or sexist.” The policy required faculty to request approval from department heads for engaging in off-campus academic activity. (Opinion.)
The Supreme Court on Tuesday reversed a Fourth Circuit decision that had allowed immigration judges’ free speech challenge to a regulation restricting their work-related speech to proceed in the district court. (Opinion.)
U.S. Court of International Trade Judge Richard K. Eaton on Wednesday ordered Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney S. Scott to appear at a hearing on June 9 to “answer the court’s questions as to the anticipated timing of Customs’ compliance” with its prior directive to issue tariff refunds to importers. (Order.) (NYT.)
A group of 35 former federal judges on Wednesday filed a motion asking Judge Kathleen M. Williams (S.D. Fla.) to reopen President Trump’s case against the Internal Revenue Service so that the court can examine “whether [it] was deceived, including with respect to the existence of an underlying case or controversy and any purported arms-length negotiations undertaken to resolve it.” (Motion.) (NYT.) For background on Trump’s voluntary dismissal of the case and the subsequent public release of the settlement agreement, see previous Roundups.
The Justice Department has reportedly opened a criminal investigation into whether E. Jean Carroll, who accused President Trump of sexually assaulting her in the 1990s, committed perjury in her testimony tied to two civil lawsuits against Trump. (CNN.) (NYT.)
The Department of Justice on Tuesday sued the University of California in the Central District of California “for its deliberate indifference to race and national origin discrimination against Jewish and Israeli students at its University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) campus.” The suit seeks reimbursement for federal grants given to UCLA during the period of the university’s alleged noncompliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. (Press Release.) (Complaint.)
During a pretrial hearing Thursday, a DOJ lawyer told Judge Jesse Furman (S.D.N.Y.) that the firing of former federal prosecutor Maurene Comey was valid under the president’s Article II authority “even if there were political motivations.” (Politico.)
The Washington Post reported that two political appointees at the Treasury Department repeatedly pressed the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to design a $250 bill with President Trump’s portrait on it. The director of the printing bureau, Patricia Solimene, was reassigned from her post in April after resisting the effort on legal and procedural grounds. (WaPo.)
California Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday signed legislation designed to address “growing threats of election interference and intimidation, including efforts by allies of President Donald Trump to undermine confidence in elections and disrupt lawful election administration.” (Press Release.) (NYT.)
Jack Goldsmith analyzed the fate of Trump v. United States in Supreme Court, Solicitor General, and Office of Legal Counsel documents and concluded that his earlier “prediction that the executive branch would aggressively use the non-immunity aspects of Trump to its advantage against the other branches has not been borne out in public legal documents.” (Executive Functions.)
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. The Court heard oral argument on April 29, 2026.
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. The Court heard oral argument on April 29, 2026.