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The Seventh Circuit on Friday granted the Trump administration’s petition for a writ of mandamus and vacated a district court order requiring U.S. Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino to provide daily in-person compliance reports on federal agents’ use of force in Chicago. (Order.) See a previous Roundup for background.
Judge Karin Immergut (D. Or.) on Sunday issued a preliminary injunction barring the administration from deploying federalized National Guard troops in Oregon through Nov. 7, finding President Trump likely exceeded his authority under 10 U.S.C. § 12406 and violated the Tenth Amendment. (Opinion and Order.) (NYT.)
District court judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island on Friday ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to use emergency funds to keep paying food assistance benefits amid the shutdown. (D. Mass. Memorandum and Order.) (D.R.I. Order.) (WSJ.)
Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly (D.D.C.) on Thursday permanently enjoined the administration and the Election Assistance Commission from enforcing Section 2(a) of Executive Order No. 14,248, which required proof of citizenship for federal voter registration. (Memorandum Opinion.) (NYT.)
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Saturday that the U.S. military had conducted another lethal strike on an alleged drug vessel in the Caribbean Sea. (NYT.)
The head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, T. Elliot Gaiser, told Congress last week that the War Powers Resolution’s 60-day limit does not apply to the administration’s lethal boat-strike campaign because U.S. forces are not engaged in “hostilities.” (NYT.) Rebecca Ingber and Jessica Thibodeau provided a backgrounder on the “60-day clock.” (Just Security.)
President Trump on Saturday announced that he was instructing the Department of Defense “to prepare for possible action” in Nigeria and noted that aid to the country will be discontinued if the Nigerian government “continues to allow the killing of Christians.” (Truth Social.) (WaPo.)
President Trump is reportedly escalating demands that the Justice Department investigate whether fraud occurred in the 2020 election. (WaPo.)
More than 100 federal judges have ruled against the administration’s July 8 mandatory detention policy requiring ICE to detain all immigrants facing deportation without bond. (Politico.)
According to the New York Times, the White House withheld the names of several individuals and companies that donated to the construction of the new ballroom. (NYT.)
The Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday on the legality of Trump’s tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). (NYT.) George F. Will wrote that six amicus briefs in the IEEPA tariffs case highlight a momentous choice for the Supreme Court that could undermine the Constitution’s separation of powers. (WaPo.)
Records released by Sen. Chuck Grassley show that Verizon complied with a 2023 subpoena from Special Counsel Jack Smith for Republican senators’ phone records in the “Arctic Frost” investigation into Jan. 6, while AT&T refused to provide records. (National Review.) Kimberley Strassel argued that Smith’s “Arctic Frost” probe amounted to a partisan fishing expedition and urged Congress to end the special counsel system altogether. (WSJ.)
Mary McCord and Andrew Weissmann argued that the weaponization of the Justice Department “is the logical result” of the Supreme Court’s “extremely broad interpretation of the president’s exclusive constitutional powers.” (NYT.)
Andrew Coan warned that Trump could exploit an “appellate void” by ignoring lower-court rulings without appealing them. (Lawfare.)
Benjamin Wittes discussed the arguments former FBI Director James Comey is making against his indictment. (Lawfare.)
Andrew McCarthy argued that Biden’s autopen-issued pardons, while “a gross abuse of the pardon power,” remain legally valid because they were official acts shielded by Trump v. United States. (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.
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.
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.