Programming Note: Executive Functions Roundup will operate on a limited holiday schedule for the week of Memorial Day. Following our May 21 edition, the Roundup will publish only on May 26 and May 29 before returning to its regular daily schedule on June 1.
Judge John D. Bates (D.D.C.) on Wednesday issued a preliminary injunction requiring White House staff to comply with the Presidential Records Act and not rely on an Office of Legal Counsel opinion and Executive Office of the President guidance. The injunction applies to White House staff excluding the president and vice president and also does not apply to the National Archives and Records Administration, the Archivist, the Department of Justice, and the Attorney General. (Memorandum Opinion.) (WaPo.)
The Justice Department on Wednesday indicted former Cuban president Raúl Castro in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on charges of conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, destruction of an aircraft, and murder. The charges stem from the 1996 death of four individuals traveling on a pair of planes shot down by the Cuban military. (Indictment.) (NYT.) (WaPo.) (WSJ.)
The Justice Department on Tuesday charged a former prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida with stealing government documents related to special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation of Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents after he left office in 2021. The prosecutor allegedly sent an internal memorandum and a report to her personal email under the subject lines “chocolate cake recipe” and “bundt cake recipe.” (Indictment.) (NYT.) (WaPo.)
The New York Times reported that Senate Republicans appear poised to scratch $1 billion in funding for the president’s ballroom construction project from an immigration enforcement bill. The White House reportedly requested the money to finance the construction and bolster its position in litigation challenging the project by showing that Congress had blessed it. (NYT.)
Anna Bower and Eric Columbus analyzed the legal framework of the so-called Anti-Weaponization Fund and potential legal arguments to challenge it. (Lawfare.)
Andy C. McCarthy argued that Acting Attorney General Tod Blanche’s decision to grant the Trump family immunity from IRS enforcement action constitutes “executive branch ethical impropriety and self-dealing” that only Congress can address. (National Review.)
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.
Mullin 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 then-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. On March 16, the Court consolidated the case with a challenge to the Department of Homeland Security’s termination of Temporary Protected Status designations for Haiti and granted certiorari before judgment of the consolidated cases while deferring action on the government’s request for a stay. The Court heard oral argument on April 29, 2026.
Trump v. Miot: The government filed an application on March 11 requesting the Supreme Court to stay a lower court order postponing then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s decision to terminate temporary protected status designation for Haiti. The government also asked the Court to treat the application as a petition for a writ of certiorari before judgment and grant the petition. On March 16, the Court consolidated the case with Mullin v. Doe. The Court heard oral argument on April 29, 2026.