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The Democratic National Committee filed a complaint against the Trump administration on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking an injunction to compel government agencies to comply with the DNC’s Freedom of Information Act requests for records concerning “potential deployment of federal agents and troops to polling places, drop boxes, and election offices.” The FOIA requests were sent to the Justice Department, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security. (Complaint.) (NYT.)
Top Senate Democrats demanded in a Tuesday letter to President Trump that he make Defense Department Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio immediately available to publicly testify under oath before lawmakers on the U.S. military’s operations in Iran. (Letter.) (NYT.)
The New York Times reported that an ongoing military investigation has initially determined that the U.S. was responsible for a deadly Tomahawk missile strike on an Iranian elementary school on Feb. 28. The preliminary report determined the bombing was the result of a targeting error due to outdated defense intelligence. (NYT.)
As the U.S. continues military operations in Iran, Politico reported that Secretary Hegseth has gutted Pentagon offices that do not contribute to his goal of “lethality,” including the oversight group responsible for limiting risk to civilians. (Politico.)
Polling suggests that public support for the U.S. strikes on Iran is lower than what it has been at the beginning of previous conflicts. (NYT.)
The parent company of Smartmatic USA filed a motion on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida to dismiss a bribery prosecution brought by the Justice Department on the basis of vindictive and selective prosecution. Smartmatic has pursued defamation litigation against President Trump’s allies for accusing the company, which operates electronic voting technology, of committing fraud in the 2020 presidential election. (Motion.) (NYT.)
The White House is reportedly preparing to issue an executive order that would direct federal agencies to remove Anthropic software from government systems. (Axios.) For background on the Trump administration’s dispute with Anthropic, see the Roundup Library.
The District of Columbia Court of Appeals’ Board on Professional Responsibility initiated disciplinary proceedings against senior Justice Department official Ed Martin for a letter he sent to Georgetown Law School when he was interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia announcing sanctions against the school for teaching and promoting “DEI.” (Specification of charges.) (WaPo.)
Steve Vladeck argued that U.S. courts’ hesitancy to decide questions on the legality of U.S. military operations in foreign conflicts “might make sense in a world with a moderately functioning Congress,” but there are “costs of such judicial abdication when Congress has abandoned any semblance of institutional responsibility.” (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.
Noem 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 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.