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The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday granted the government’s motion for an emergency stay pending appeal of a district court temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking the president from deploying 200 members of the Oregon National Guard to Portland. (Per curiam order.) (WSJ.) A judge on the Ninth Circuit has sua sponte requested a vote on whether the case should be reheard en banc (Order.) In light of this decision, the government filed a motion to dissolve or stay the second TRO from the same district court blocking the president from deploying members of the California National Guard to Portland. (Motion to dissolve/stay Oct 5 TRO.) See a previous Roundup for background.
The state of Illinois and city of Chicago on Monday filed their response in Trump v. Illinois. (Response.) (NYT.) See yesterday’s Roundup for background.
Former FBI Director James Comey on Monday filed motions to dismiss his criminal case based on vindictive and selective prosecution and on the allegedly invalid appointment of Lindsey Halligan as interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. (Motion to dismiss for vindictive & selective prosecution.) (Motion to dismiss based on invalid appointment of Ms. Halligan.) (NYT.)
Judge Sara L. Ellis (N.D. Ill.) questioned federal agents on their use of tear gas and other crowd-control munitions against protestors, potentially in violation of a temporary order. (NYT.)
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Monday issued new guidance clarifying that only new H-1B visa applicants from outside the country will be required to pay the $100,000 application fee. (WSJ.)
Representative Adam Smith called on the House Armed Services committee to hold a hearing on the Department of Defense’s strikes on the boats of alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean. (NYT.) See a previous Roundup for background.
Representative Robert Garcia, ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, and Senator Richard Blumenthal, ranking member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, announced on Monday that they have started a joint investigation into misconduct committed by federal agents during immigration operations, including the detainment of American citizens. (NYT.)
Six out of the nine universities that were invited to join the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” have publicly rejected the offer. (WaPo.) See a previous Roundup for background.
Anna Bower, senior editor at Lawfare, chronicled her conversations on Signal with Lindsey Halligan, interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. (Lawfare.)
Bob Bauer argued that Trump’s commutation of George Santos’s sentence underscores the threat that a politicized justice system poses to the checking function of Congress and discussed avenues for reform. (Executive Functions.)
Jeffrey Toobin criticized President Trump’s use of his clemency powers as “transactional.” (NYT.)
J.T. Alexander argued that the Trump administration should first designate antifa as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in order to publicly expose the organization and its officers, then utilize the Specially Designated Terrorist designation to sanction its financiers and members. (The New Digest.)
Steve Vladeck argued that a decision in favor of the government in Trump v. Illinois would effectively greenlight pretextual domestic deployments of the military. (One First.)
Pending Interim Order Applications Involving the U.S. Government in the Supreme Court
Trump v. Illinois: The government filed an emergency application on October 17 requesting the Supreme Court stay a district court order barring the deployment of the National Guard to Illinois. Justice Barrett formally set a deadline of October 20 for a response to the application. Illinois and the City of Chicago submitted a response on October 20.
Trump v. Orr: The government filed an emergency application on September 19 requesting the Supreme Court to stay an injunction issued by a district court that requires the State Department to allow transgender and nonbinary people to choose the sex designation on their passports. Justice Jackson formally set a deadline of October 4 for a response to the application. Orr submitted a response on October 6, and President Trump filed a reply on October 7.