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A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit on Friday denied the Trump administration’s motion for a stay pending appeal of a lower court order blocking then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem from terminating Haiti’s temporary protected status designation. (Order.) (NYT.) See the Roundup Library for background.
Judge Royce C. Lamberth (D.D.C.) ruled on Saturday that Kari Lake’s appointment as acting CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media was invalid under the Appointments Clause and Vacancies Act. Judge Lamberth voided all actions taken by Lake in her post, including her ordering of mass firings at Voice of America (VOA), a federally-funded organization that provides news services to foreign countries. (Memorandum opinion.) (Law Dork.) (Politico.) For background on litigation challenging the Trump administration’s dismantling of VOA, see a previous Roundup.
Anthropic on Monday filed a lawsuit against several U.S. government departments and senior officials in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California challenging the company’s designation as a supply-chain risk to national security. The complaint alleges that in addition to “immediate economic harms” arising from cancelled government contracts, Anthropic faces reputational costs and a loss of its First Amendment freedoms. (Complaint.) (WSJ.)
The Justice Department asserted that “[c]ourts cannot tell the president what to say” in a brief filed Friday in the D.C. Circuit supporting its appeal of district court orders invalidating Trump’s executive orders targeting law firms. (NYT.) For background, see a previous Roundup.
The Florida Bar on Friday said that it was not investigating Lindsey Halligan, the former interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. A bar spokesperson said counsel for the organization had “erroneously” stated previously that there was a “pending investigation” into Halligan for her role in prosecuting President Trump’s political foes. (WaPo.) For background, see a prior Roundup.
U.S. Central Command announced on Sunday that a seventh American service member has been killed in action during Operation Epic Fury. (Statement.) (WaPo.)
The Washington Post reported that a classified National Intelligence Council report completed a week before the U.S. launched attacks on Iran warned that a “large-scale assault on Iran launched by the United States would be unlikely to oust the Islamic republic’s entrenched military and clerical establishment.” (WaPo.)
Axios reported that the U.S. and Israel have discussed sending special forces into Iran to seize the country’s nuclear stockpile. (Axios.)
The New York Times reported that a video released on Sunday by an Iranian government news organization suggests that an American Tomahawk missile likely hit an Iranian elementary school where 175 people were reportedly killed. On Saturday, President Trump told reporters that Iran was responsible for the school bombing. (NYT.)
The American military is deploying artificial intelligence in its campaign against Iran to gather intelligence, select targets, assess battle damage, and more. (WSJ.)
The Trump administration has reportedly scaled back its immigration law enforcement tactics, foregoing dragnet sweeps of American cities in favor of more targeted operations. (NYT.)
A Wall Street Journal investigation found that the Department of Homeland Security “has turned its force against [American] citizens,” who have been “declared terrorists and attackers” and had personally identifying information exposed in hundreds of social-media posts by the U.S. government. (WSJ.)
The New York Times identified Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina, and Arizona as states where the Trump administration or its allies may focus their energy to assert control over elections, citing alleged fraud. (NYT.) The FBI in recent days has subpoenaed records related to the 2020 election in Arizona’s Maricopa County, a state senator confirmed on Monday. (NYT.)
U.S. Southern Command announced on Sunday that the U.S. military killed six people in a lethal strike on a boat suspected of trafficking narcotics in the Eastern Pacific. (NYT.)
The Trump administration this month unveiled its national cybersecurity strategy, which calls on private companies to take on an unprecedented role in cyberwarfare. (Cyber Strategy.) (NYT.)
Jack Goldsmith explained why there are no effective legal or bureaucratic constraints on President Trump’s discretion to deploy nuclear weapons in Iran and urged Congress to engage “with the White House on the aims and conduct of the growing war with Iran, including extreme scenarios.” (Executive Functions.)
Andrew C. McCarthy argued that the further the U.S. is from an actual foreign threat, the greater the president’s political need for congressional support. (National Review.)
Harold Hongju Koh, Bruce Swartz, Avi Gupta, and Brady Worthington argued that the Pentagon, through designating Anthropic a supply chain risk, distorted a federal statute to “mete out constitutionally forbidden punishment.” (Just Security.)
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.