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The U.S. government withdrew its Nov. 7 stay application to the Supreme Court in Rollins v. Rhode Island State Council of Churches on the ground that the underlying dispute is moot since the government shutdown has ended. (Letter.) Steve Vladeck, reflecting on an earlier aspect of the SNAP case, noted that “this appears to be the second time in seven months that the full Court has taken a dispute away from the relevant circuit justice.” (One First.)
Judge Jeffrey I. Cummings (N.D. Ill) on Thursday ordered ICE to begin releasing the detainees it arrested in violation of a consent decree during Operation Midway Blitz in the Chicago area. (Order.) (Politico.)
The New York Times reports that a classified memorandum from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel approving President Trump’s boat strikes relied “on the idea that the United States and its allies are legally in a state of armed conflict with drug cartels, a premise that derives heavily from assertions that the White House itself has put forward.” (NYT.) The U.S. military on Wednesday killed another four people accused by the Trump administration of trafficking drugs by sea, bringing the strike count to 20 and the death toll to 80 people. (NYT.) David A. Graham wrote that “the boat strikes seem to be a cover for a huge military deployment designed to oust Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.” (The Atlantic.)
The Justice Department is suing California over its new congressional map, arguing that the new electoral lines, which were approved by voters in a ballot measure, are illegally racially gerrymandered. (WSJ.)
The BBC on Thursday apologized to President Trump for a misleadingly edited documentary that spliced two parts of the speech President Trump gave in front of the White House before the Jan. 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol. It refused to pay him any compensation, despite President Trump’s threats to sue the BBC for $1 billion. (NYT.) Josh Gerstein and Noah Keate discussed how the president’s threat to sue may play out. (Politico.)
The Trump administration is considering broad exemptions to certain tariffs to ease food prices. (NYT.)
The law that reopened the federal government contained a provision that authorized U.S. senators whose phone records were seized by the FBI as part of former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation to sue the federal government for up to $500,000. The language does not authorize members of the House of Representatives whose records were collected to sue. (WaPo.)
Bob Bauer discussed the Supreme Court’s decision to grant certiorari in Watson v. Republican National Committee, a case challenging state laws that allow the counting of mail-in ballots that are postmarked before Election Day but arrive afterwards. (Executive Functions.)
Jeffrey Toobin argued that Maurene Comey’s case will be more consequential than that of her father, James Comey, as it will test the limits of the unitary executive theory and the strength of Civil Service rules. (NYT.)
Mark Nevitt and Margy O’Herron contended that the Justice Department’s recent appointment of military lawyers to serve as immigration judges violates the Posse Comitatus Act and breaches “the foundational norm separating military authority from civilian governance.” (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.
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. President Trump filed a reply on October 21. On October 29, Justice Barrett requested supplemental briefs to be filed by November 10.