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The Supreme Court today ruled that the Immigration and Nationality Act “does not require border officers to have clear and convincing evidence that a lawful permanent resident has committed a crime involving moral turpitude before deeming the resident an applicant for admission.” The Court vacated a Second Circuit decision that had imposed such a requirement. (Opinion.) Homeland Security General Counsel James Percival applauded the decision. (X.)
Judge Patrick J. Schiltz (D. Minn.) in a ruling unsealed Monday quashed six Justice Department grand jury subpoenas targeting state and local officials in Minnesota. Judge Schiltz wrote that “overwhelming evidence” indicated that the subpoenas, which were issued during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the state, “were not issued to investigate, but to harass, coerce, and retaliate.” (Order.) (Politico.) (Law Dork.) Bob Bauer argued that the Minnesota decision sheds light on a Department of Justice with Todd Blanche at the helm and reaffirms that the Senate must vote to reject Blanche’s attorney general nomination. (Executive Functions)
Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan (D.D.C.) on Monday vacated and set aside the Trump administration’s 2025 overhaul of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database, which sought to create a system for mass voter verification using using data from the Departments of Homeland Security and Social Security. (Memorandum Opinion.) (Politico.) (NPR.)
Judge Fernando N. Olguin (C.D. Cal.) on Saturday dismissed the Justice Department’s challenge to Los Angeles’s sanctuary-city ordinance on the ground that DOJ failed to plausibly allege either federal preemption or a violation of intergovernmental immunity. DOJ was granted leave to amend its complaint by July 3. (Order.) (LA Times.)
Judge Amy Berman Jackson (D.D.C.) on Monday vacated the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s approvals of state pilot projects restricting the food items that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) households could purchase with SNAP benefits. Judge Jackson ruled that Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins lacked authority to use waivers to alter the statutory definition of eligible food. (Memorandum Opinion.) (Order.) (Politico.)
Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte reportedly began firing people at his office on Monday. (CNN.) (ABC.) Democratic lawmakers on the House and Senate Intelligence Committees on Monday issued a letter to Pulte warning that “[m]aking significant structural changes to ODNI, to include a reduction in force, is not an appropriate course of action for anyone in an acting capacity.” (Letter.) (NYT.)
Steve Vladeck discussed DOJ’s “remarkable” motion to intervene in the NAACP’s Clean Air Act lawsuit against xAI. (One First.)
Andrew McCarthy argued that President Trump has no authority to impose tolls on the Strait of Hormuz, despite his recent statement on Truth Social. (National Review.)
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. On June 16, 2026, respondents moved to dismiss the government’s petition as improvidently granted.