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The Chief Justice on Thursday granted the government’s request for an administrative stay of a divided Fourth Circuit panel’s order directing the Federal Communications Commission to issue a decision by October 9 regarding a challenge to its public notice that would give favorable advertising rates provided to candidates for public office to political parties and joint fundraising committees too. (Docket.) (NYT.) (SCOTUSBlog.)
Judge Timothy J. Kelly (D.D.C.) on Thursday extended through Tuesday his temporary restraining order requiring the White House to restore the press credentials of CNN, MS NOW, and Politico reporters, to allow time to decide whether to enter a preliminary injunction. (Docket.) (NYT.) (CNN.) (Politico.) For background on the litigation, see prior Roundups.
Arlington County filed a lawsuit on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia seeking to block construction of President Trump’s triumphal arch. (Complaint.) (WaPo.)
The Justice Department reportedly presented evidence this week to a federal grand jury regarding whether former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson made false statements to Congress during her testimony on the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The investigation is reportedly being led by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. (CBS.) (WaPo.)
Disclosure forms show that President Trump’s financial portfolio purchased more than $1 million of debt issued by Elon Musk’s SpaceX just days before the president unveiled a policy intended to strengthen America’s space transportation capabilities. A White House spokesman said Trump’s stock-and-bond portfolio is “independently managed” by third-party financial institutions. (WaPo.)
President Donald Trump wrote in a Thursday email to Medicare enrollees that he was sending them money that Congress appropriated for Medicare improvements. “You are receiving a One-Time Payment of $90 to offset some of the cost of your October Medicare premium,” Trump wrote. “This will ensure these funds benefit YOU and your individual healthcare needs.” (Fact Sheet.) (WaPo.)
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and injured a man on Thursday in New York City, prompting New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to say he would ask President Trump to discontinue all ICE operations in the city. (WSJ.)
Vice President JD Vance announced on Thursday that Microsoft would be suspended from the Labor Department’s permanent labor certification program, which employers use to sponsor foreign workers for green cards, saying no company “has abused this system more.” The Department of Labor also announced investigations into possible visa fraud at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Arizona State, Brown, M.I.T., the University of Pittsburgh, the University of California, Davis, and the California Institute of Technology. (NYT.) (WaPo.)
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 respondents filed their response on October 8.
FCC v. Brown: The government filed an application to the Supreme Court on October 8 seeking a stay and immediate stay pending appeal of the Fourth Circuit’s October 7 order directing the Federal Communications Commission to issue a decision by October 9 on a challenge to its public notice that would extend favorable advertising rates for candidates for federal office to political parties and joint fundraising committees. Chief Justice Roberts on October 8 issued an administrative stay and ordered the respondent to file a response by October 10 at 5 p.m.