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Chief Justice John Roberts on Friday requested a response by noon on Aug. 18 to the government’s application to stay the injunction blocking construction of the White House ballroom. The application describes the project as an “integrated military complex” which is “vitally required by national security.” (Application.) (Docket.) For background, see a previous Roundup.
The Sixth Circuit on Friday declined to rehear en banc United States v. Benson, leaving in place a June ruling that the Civil Rights Act of 1960 does not entitle the Justice Department to Michigan’s unredacted voter registration list. Judge Murphy concurred in the denial, reading the panel opinion to rest on “curable procedural problems” that a new demand letter could fix. (Sixth Circuit Order.) Judge Anne R. Traum (D. Nev.) dismissed a parallel suit against Nevada’s secretary of state the same day, the department’s 22nd district court loss in a campaign against 30 states that has produced no wins. (Nevada Order.) (Democracy Docket.)
Judge Anthony J. Trenga (E.D. Va.) on Friday entered an administrative stay barring the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators from producing 17 million commercial driver’s license records to the Department of Homeland Security. Twenty-one states, the District of Columbia, and Pennsylvania’s governor moved to quash the subpoena. (Order.)
Attorney General Todd Blanche on Sunday declined to pledge that the Justice Department will always act independently of the White House. “No, I’m not going to pledge that, and no attorney general should ever pledge that,” Blanche said on NBC’s Meet the Press. (Meet the Press.) (WaPo.)
President Trump on Sunday said he has “instructed Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to substantially reduce the Joint Military Exercises” with South Korea. Trump wrote that the drills send a signal that is “totally inappropriate and hostile” to North Korea, which he called “unthreatening and respectful.” (Truth Social.) (NYT.)
Alison Hirsh and Justin Florence of Protect Democracy argued that state attorneys general and district attorneys should investigate and prosecute the corruption the Justice Department will not. (Just Security.)
Pending Interim Order Applications Involving the U.S. Government in the Supreme Court
Trump v. California: The government filed an application on July 27 requesting the Supreme Court to stay a district court injunction that blocked federal agencies from implementing certain portions of the president’s March 31 executive order entitled “Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections.” The 23 states and the District of Columbia challenging the order filed a consolidated opposition on August 3, arguing that a stay “would allow the federal government to rush out an unprecedented, legally indefensible voter-verification and ballot-interception program.” The government filed a reply on August 4, arguing that the states rest their challenge on “speculation about what impact the Executive Order would have if it were ultimately implemented in violation of federal law.” The government filed a supplemental brief on August 12 to “inform the Court of a recent order in a parallel case” and the states responded the same day.
Alabama v. California: Twelve states filed an application on July 29 requesting the Supreme Court to stay a district court injunction that blocked federal agencies from implementing certain portions of the president’s March 31 executive order entitled “Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections.” The 23 states and the District of Columbia challenging the order filed a consolidated opposition on August 3. The twelve states filed a reply on August 4, arguing that the executive order “imposes zero obligations on the States or public.”
National Park Service v. National Trust for Historic Preservation: The government filed an application on August 13 requesting the Supreme Court to stay a district court injunction blocking further construction of the White House ballroom. On August 14, the Chief Justice requested a response by 12 p.m. on August 18.