Please click here to opt in to receive the Executive Functions Roundup via email and to subscribe to Executive Functions.
The New York Times reported that President Trump is considering a menu of military operations against Iran if the country does not agree to give up its nuclear program. Negotiators for the U.S. and Iran are expected to meet in Geneva on Thursday. (NYT.)
After the U.S. Supreme Court held that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorize the president to issue tariffs, the Trump administration announced it would pursue alternative tariffs policies, including a 15 percent global tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. (NYT.) (WSJ.) Andrew C. McCarthy argued that the new policy is unlawful. (National Review.)
Regarding the issue of tariff refunds, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said, “we need the court to tell us what to do.” (The Hill.)
President Trump demanded Netflix fire former national security adviser Susan Rice from its board or “pay the consequences” after Rice said in an interview that Democrats should not “forgive or forget” corporations that “bent the knee” to Trump. Trump’s comments, which he made in a Saturday social media post, come as Netflix is seeking to close a $72 billion deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. (WSJ.)
The Justice Department on Friday terminated the interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia hours after judges in the district unanimously appointed a longtime litigator to temporarily fill the post vacated by Lindsey Halligan. (WaPo.)
JPMorgan disclosed in a court filing on Friday that it closed more than 50 business and personal accounts associated with Donald Trump in February 2021 after he left his first term in office. Trump filed a lawsuit in January in Florida state court seeking $5 billion against the bank and its CEO, arguing that JPMorgan politically discriminated against him after Jan. 6, 2021. (Declaration.) (NYT.)
U.S. Southern Command announced that the U.S. military conducted a lethal strike on Friday in the eastern Pacific Ocean on a boat allegedly trafficking narcotics, killing three people. (X.) (CNN.)
President Trump announced in a social media post Saturday that he is sending a Navy hospital ship to Greenland “to take care of the many people who are sick, and not being taken care of there.” (WSJ.) For background on Trump’s efforts to seize control of the island in the Arctic, see the Roundup Library.
The New York Times reported that a Detroit-based trucking magnate who operates an existing bridge connecting Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit made a $1 million donation to a super PAC that supports President Trump one month before the president publicly stated he would “not allow” the opening of a competing bridge connecting the regions. (NYT.)
U.S. Secret Service agents and a Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy fatally shot a 21-year-old North Carolina man early Sunday morning who allegedly breached the perimeter of Mar-a-Lago armed with a shotgun and gas canister. (WaPo.)
Jack Goldsmith assessed the damage that President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are doing to the Department of Defense’s legal culture. (Executive Functions.)
Goldsmith offered key takeaways from the Supreme Court’s tariffs decision and discussed President Trump’s response to the ruling. (Executive Functions.)
David French made the case for why the tariffs decision may “prove to be the most important Supreme Court decision this century.” (NYT.)
Ilya Somin heralded the Supreme Court’s decision as a victory for the rule of law. (The Atlantic.)
Alan Z. Rozenshtein argued that Congress should pass legislation regulating the military’s use of AI. (Lawfare.)
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.