Please click here to opt in to receive the Executive Functions Roundup via email and to subscribe to Executive Functions.
Judge Randolph D. Moss (D.D.C.) on Sunday partially vacated a Department of Justice interim rule that would have sharply curtailed appeals before the Board of Immigration Appeals. Judge Moss held that the government violated the Administrative Procedure Act by implementing key provisions, including a presumption of summary dismissal of appeals, without notice and comment. (Opinion.) (NYT.)
Judge Matthew W. Brann, sitting by designation in the District of New Jersey, ruled that DOJ’s current three-person leadership structure for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey violates the Appointments Clause. He concluded that Attorney General Pam Bondi’s delegation of authority to the “triumvirate” amounted to an unlawful appointment and ordered the officials’ disqualification but did not automatically void their prior actions. He stayed his decision pending appeal. (Opinion.) (Politico.)
A nonprofit focused on the social impact of technology filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging a State Department policy that threatens deportation, detention, and visa restrictions for foreign social media researchers the government deems “complicit in censoring Americans.” (Complaint.) (NYT.)
Anthropic on Monday filed a petition for review in the D.C. Circuit challenging the Department of Defense’s determination that its products pose a supply-chain risk to national security. (Petition for review.) Separately, see yesterday’s Roundup for background on the company’s lawsuit in the Northern District of California.
The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel concluded in a March 3 opinion that President Trump could invoke the Defense Production Act to preempt California law and order the resumption of oil production and pipeline operations associated with the Santa Ynez Unit off the California coast. (Opinion.) (NYT.)
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated that the United States “will not relent” until Iran “is totally and decisively defeated” during a joint press conference with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine on Tuesday morning. (WSJ.)
The Washington Post reports that the FBI has obtained records from the Arizona state Senate’s 2021 review of Maricopa County’s 2020 presidential ballots after a federal grand jury issued a subpoena as part of an investigation into election fraud claims. (WaPo.)
Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York reached a tentative deferred prosecution agreement with the Turkish state-owned bank Halkbank to resolve charges that it helped evade U.S. sanctions on Iran. (NYT.)
Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Brett Kavanaugh on Monday evening offered diverging views on the Supreme Court’s handling of the Trump administration’s interim order applications. (NYT.)
Bob Bauer proposed that Congress pass a joint resolution clearly stating its constitutional interpretation of presidential war powers, an approach that could challenge expansive executive war-making claims when a vote to stop the Iran conflict at this stage will fail. (Executive Functions.)
Brian Finucane argued that Congress should be prepared to leverage the power of the purse to curtail further executive war-making should the conflict in Iran continue. (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.