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Judge Evelyn Padin (D.N.J.) dismissed for lack of standing the Justice Department’s lawsuit against four New Jersey cities—Hoboken, Jersey City, Newark, and Patterson—for adopting “sanctuary city” policies that restricted their assistance to federal immigration enforcement. (Opinion.) (Politico.)
A group of noncitizens filed a class action lawsuit against Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Philadelphia Field Office in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on Wednesday, challenging the office’s rescission of its “Changed Circumstances” policy. The policy barred the re-arrest and re-detention of individuals previously released from immigration detention unless a material change in circumstances warranted their re-detention. (Complaint.)
Legion LegalTech Corp. sued the Commerce Department in D.C. District Court on Tuesday, challenging the department’s June 12 directive to Anthropic to disable two of its artificial intelligence models as exceeding the department’s authority. (Complaint.) (Reuters.) For background, see a prior Roundup.
President Trump requested $87.6 billion in additional funding from Congress on Wednesday, most of which “will address urgent needs related to Operation Epic Fury.” (Request.) (NYT.) Jack Goldsmith assessed the legal stakes of such an appropriations request last month. (Executive Functions.)
Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte reportedly fired six intelligence officials and sent 45 officers detailed to ODNI back to their home agencies. (NYT.)
The New York Times reported that the president’s nominee to be chief counsel of the Internal Revenue Service, James Gadwood, works for Miller & Chevalier, a law firm that represents the president’s holding company on tax matters. (NYT.) (Nomination.)
Steve Vladeck argued that the Justice Department’s motion to intervene in NAACP v. x.AI Corp. (D.N. Miss.) “turns on a dangerous new constitutional claim” that the department may intervene in and seek dismissal of private lawsuits under the Clean Air Act because the executive branch has the exclusive authority to enforce federal law, and that authority cannot be overridden by private legal actions—even where Congress has explicitly authorized them. (One First.) (Motion to Intervene.)
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.