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A panel of the D.C. Circuit on Tuesday vacated a district court stay of the Trump administration’s January 2025 expansion of expedited removal authority. In a 2-1 decision, the majority held that Congress gave the Department of Homeland Security discretion to designate certain classes of noncitizens for expedited removal and that the plaintiffs were unlikely to succeed on their due process challenge to the policy. (Opinion.) (NYT.)
Judge P. Casey Pitts (N.D. Cal.) on Tuesday vacated nationwide ICE and Executive Office for Immigration Review policies authorizing civil immigration arrests in immigration courthouses and detention in short-term holding facilities beyond the agency’s 12-hour limit. Judge Pitts ruled that the policies were arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act. (Order.) (NYT.)
Judge Reed O’Connor (N.D. Tex.) on Monday entered a consent judgment jointly requested by Texas and the Department of Justice declaring unlawful a 2024 DOJ regulation that authorized immigration judges to administratively close cases. The court vacated the rule and permanently enjoined its enforcement. (Order.) (Bloomberg.)
The Senate on Tuesday passed a resolution seeking to block U.S. military action against Iran on a vote of 50-48. (NYT.) President Trump criticized the “poorly timed and meaningless War Powers Act Vote.” (Truth Social.)
The Justice Department on Monday sued the state of New York and several state officials over a recently enacted state law that would prohibit federal officers from wearing face coverings and require them to display identifying information, and terminate local ICE cooperation agreements. The suit, filed in the Western District of New York, alleges that the law would unconstitutionally interfere with federal authority and put federal agents at risk. (Complaint.) (Press Release.) (NYT.)
The Justice Department reportedly sought to compel national security reporters at the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal to testify before a federal grand jury, but withdrew the subpoenas earlier this month after legal challenges by the news organizations. (WaPo.) (NYT.)
Federal judges in Texas on Tuesday sentenced eight members of what prosecutors described as an “antifa cell” to prison terms ranging from 30 to 100 years after they were convicted on terrorism-related charges arising from a July 2025 violent protest at an ICE detention facility that included vandalism, explosives, and the shooting of a local police officer. (WaPo.) (NYT.)
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 argumenton April 29, 2026. On June 16, 2026, respondents moved to dismiss the government’s petition as improvidently granted.