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Judge Tanya S. Chutkan (D.D.C.) on Thursday granted Virginia and the District of Columbia’s motion for a temporary restraining order blocking construction of the president’s triumphal arch after the Interior Department issued a final decision approving the construction. (Opinion.) (NYT.)
Judge Jamal N. Whitehead (W.D. Wash.) on Thursday temporarily restrained the Justice Department from “demand[ing] that election officials” in Washington “set aside a registered voter’s ballot because the voter’s name appears on a federal list.” The judge’s order also provided that the department “may not threaten those officials with prosecution for counting votes as state law requires.” (Order.) (Politico.)
The D.C. Preservation League and two individual plaintiffs on Thursday moved for a temporary restraining order—or alternatively, a 14-day stay under 5 U.S.C. § 705—blocking the Department of the Interior from closing East Potomac Park. (Motion.)
President Trump on Thursday issued a proclamation designating the Oval Office, the Outer Oval Office, and the Cabinet Room as a national monument. (Proclamation.) (WSJ.) (AP.)
Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for civil rights, on Thursday announced her resignation from the Justice Department. Dhillon stated that she resigned three weeks ago but honored White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles’s request that she not announce her resignation until after the midterms. (NYT.) (WaPo.)
The Justice Department reportedly has issued grand jury subpoenas in a criminal investigation of the leak of the Supreme Court’s draft decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. (NYT.)
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth reportedly has authorized the use of military trucks and Humvees to patrol Washington, D.C., and D.C. National Guard boats to patrol the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers. (AP.) (NYT.)
Pending Interim Order Applications Involving the U.S. Government in the Supreme Court
Mullin v. Friends of the Ruidosa Church: The government on October 21 asked the Supreme Court to issue a stay pending appeal of a district court preliminary injunction halting government construction of barriers along a portion of the U.S.-Mexico border. The government asked the Court to construe its application as a petition for a writ of certiorari and grant the petition. (Application.) The respondents filed their opposition on October 29, and the government filed its reply on October 30.