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The Supreme Court on Thursday granted the U.S. government’s petition for a writ of certiorari in Rhoney v. Barbosa da Cunha, which concerns whether the Immigration and Nationality Act “mandates the detention pending removal proceedings” of noncitizens who are “present in the United States without having been admitted.” (Order.) (Petition.) (SCOTUSblog.) (NYT.)
Judge Stanley A. Bastian (W.D. Wash.) on Thursday preliminarily enjoined the Executive Office of the President, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, and the Department of Justice from removing Roger Rogoff from his position as U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington pending Senate confirmation of his successor. (Order.) (NYT.) (WaPo.) For background on Rogoff’s firing, see a prior Roundup.
Judge Jia M. Cobb (D.D.C.) on Wednesday suspended the Sept. 30 deadline for the Department of Housing and Urban Development to obligate or award the Comprehensive Housing Counseling (CHC) program funds that the administration attempted to cancel unilaterally (or “pocket rescind”). The judge suspended the deadline in order to prevent a lapse in appropriations pending the court’s resolution of the plaintiff organizations’ motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction barring the administration from withholding the CHC funds. (Order.) For background on the legal challenge, see a prior Roundup.
Judge Todd E. Edelman (D.C. Super. Ct.) on Thursday dismissed with prejudice the Justice Department’s indictment of former Olympian David Hearn for allegedly damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The government had sought dismissal without prejudice, but Judge Edelman cited “the pressure that the President of the United States has placed on his subordinates” to recharge Hearn. (Order.) (NPR.)
A coalition of seven states filed a lawsuit on Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California challenging the Trump administration’s unilateral effort to cancel—or “pocket rescind”—$810 million in funds Congress appropriated. (Complaint.) (Reuters.)
Renee Good’s brother and partner on Thursday filed two lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota related to her killing on Jan. 7, 2026. The first suit, brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), seeks recovery against the United States for wrongful death, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligent infliction of emotional distress. (FTCA Complaint.) The second suit asserts that the ICE agent who killed Good used excessive force in violation of her constitutional rights and alleges that the federal agents and current and former administration officials behind Operation Metro Surge conspired to deprive targeted Somali and Hispanic persons of the equal protection of the laws in violation of the Klan Act. (Complaint.) (WaPo.) (NYT.)
Eric Lee argued that the outcome of In re Haji Zada, the first case before the Alien Terrorist Removal Court (ATRC), “undermines the argument advanced by some ATRC-watchers that the Trump administration’s invocation of the ATRC could be ‘good for the U.S. immigration system’ and that ‘the ATRC may be less concerning than we think.’” (Just Security.)
Pending Interim Order Applications Involving the U.S. Government in the Supreme Court
Trump v. Kingdom: The government filed an application to the Supreme Court on September 28 seeking a stay of the district court’s August 26 order barring enforcement of the Bureau of Prisons’ 2026 policy ending hormone therapy, “sex-trait-modification surgery,” and social accommodations for inmates with gender dysphoria. The Chief Justice requested a response to the application by 4 p.m. on October 8.