Please click here to opt in to receive the Executive Functions Roundup via email and to subscribe to Executive Functions.
The Department of Justice acknowledged in a court filing last week that it has violated more than fifty court orders since December in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey involving cases of immigrants challenging their detention. The government submitted the information in response to a court order requiring the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey to investigate and enumerate all instances where the office violated a judicial order. (Declaration.) (Letter.) (Politico.)
Judge Laura M. Provinzino (D. Minn.) on Wednesday held Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Isihara in civil contempt of court for violating an order requiring the government to release an immigrant from detention with all of his property returned. Starting Friday, the government lawyer will be fined $500 for every day the government does not provide the immigrant with his identification documents, according to the terms of the order. (Docket.) (NYT.)
A slew of federal judges have reportedly ordered the release of pregnant women and women who are nursing from ICE detention amid concerns over their treatment in custody. ICE has declined to say whether it is following a 2021 policy that generally prohibits the agency from detaining pregnant women or women who are nursing absent exceptional circumstances. (Politico.)
A coalition of environmental groups filed a petition for review on Wednesday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s rescission of a 2009 scientific finding that serves as the legal basis for the agency’s climate regulations. (Petition for Review.) (WSJ.) For background on the EPA’s rule, see a prior Roundup.
Homeland Security Investigations has reportedly issued a memo directing its employees to review all open and closed voter fraud cases involving noncitizens. The memo is part of an “all-fronts effort to insert federal law enforcement into the machinery of American elections ahead of the midterms,” according to the New York Times. (NYT.)
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro directed prosecutors this month to seek an indictment of six Democratic lawmakers while their investigation was in its early stages and lacked urgency, according to reporting by the New York Times. (NYT.) For background on the case, see the Roundup Library.
The New York Times reported that contract negotiations between the Department of Defense and the artificial intelligence company Anthropic have hit an impasse as the parties disagree over permissible uses of AI in future battlefields. (NYT.)
President Trump on Wednesday criticized British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for an agreement that would transfer ownership of the Chagos Islands, which houses a joint U.S.-U.K. military base, to the Mauritius government. Under the terms of the deal, the U.K. and U.S. would retain control over the Diego Garcia military base for the next 99 years through a leasing arrangement. (Politico.) For background on the dispute, see Jack Goldsmith’s chat with Richard Ekins. (Executive Functions.)
Director of the National Institutes of Health Dr. Jay Bhattacharya will reportedly take on an additional role as acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (NYT.) (WaPo.) (WSJ.)
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr defended the agency’s “equal-time rule” after CBS declined to air Stephen Colbert’s interview with a Democratic Senate candidate due to legal concerns that it would not comply with the regulation. (WaPo.)
The U.S. is reportedly in the process of withdrawing all of its remaining 1,000 troops from Syria. (WSJ.)
Nancy A. Youssef and Missy Ryan argued that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s firing campaign inside the Pentagon “risks further polarizing the military and undermining its status as one of America’s final refuges from hyper-partisanship.” (The Atlantic.)
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.