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The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel issued an opinion dated Apr. 1 that concludes the Presidential Records Act of 1978, which requires the preservation of presidential records, is unconstitutional. The opinion states that the law “is not a valid exercise of Congress’s Article I authority and unconstitutionally intrudes on the independence and autonomy of the President guaranteed by Article II . . . and the President need not further comply with its dictates.” (Opinion.) (WaPo.)
President Trump on Thursday fired Attorney General Pam Bondi and announced that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche will serve as acting Attorney General. (Truth Social.) (NYT.) Quinta Jurecic argued that the next attorney general, like Bondi, will have an impossible job. (The Atlantic.)
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Thursday fired the Army’s chief of staff, Gen. Randy George, reportedly following clashes over personnel. (NYT.)
A coalition of legal groups acting on behalf of several Minnesota residents on Thursday sued the Department of Homeland Security in the District of Columbia over a DHS policy that “purports to authorize ICE officers to enter, without a judicial warrant, any home where a person with a final order of removal is believed to be.” The plaintiffs requested the court to declare unlawful, vacate, and set aside the policy. (Complaint.) (NYT.)
ICE agents this week detained Salah Sarsour, a longtime U.S. permanent resident and leader of Wisconsin’s largest Islamic organization. A DHS spokeswoman said Sarsour had prior convictions in Israel and made misrepresentations on his American green card application in the 1990s. (NYT.)
According to the Washington Post, records show the federal planning commission reviewing President Trump’s White House ballroom project softened its own public explanation of its authority at the administration’s request. (WaPo.) On Thursday, the commission approved the president’s ballroom project, but the project remains subject to a March 31 preliminary injunction on the ground that it lacks congressional authorization. (NYT.) For background on the ruling, see a previous Roundup.
Jack Goldsmith and Curt Bradley spoke about whether President Trump has the authority to unilaterally withdraw the United States from NATO in light of the president’s recent threats to exit the treaty. (Executive Functions.)
Peyton Baker, Nick Bednar, and Amy Wildermuth argued that the Merit Systems Protection Board erred in stripping immigration judges of tenure protections and warned that the MSPB’s reasoning could jeopardize civil service protections for a wide range of federal officials. (Lawfare.)
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. 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.
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 Noem v. Doe.