Trump asks court to allow firing of watchdog agency official

Trump asks court to allow firing of watchdog agency official

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The Trump administration on Sunday asked the Supreme Court to block an order by a federal judge in Washington, D.C., that would require the president to temporarily reinstate the head of an independent agency tasked with protecting federal employees, and in particular whistleblowers, from retaliation. The order by U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris told the justices, was an “unprecedented assault on the separation of powers that warrants immediate relief.”

Sunday’s filing was the … Read the rest

Trump changes government’s position in pending trans healthcare case at Supreme Court

Trump changes government’s position in pending trans healthcare case at Supreme Court

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The Trump administration on Friday notified the Supreme Court that, in its view, a Tennessee law banning the use of puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender minors does not violate the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection. But although that position is a change from the one advanced by the Biden administration when the justices heard oral argument in a challenge to the law in December, the Trump administration nonetheless urged the Supreme Court to go ahead and decide … Read the rest

Trump asks justices for pause in four cases to reconsider Biden policies

Trump asks justices for pause in four cases to reconsider Biden policies

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The Trump administration on Friday asked the Supreme Court to pause the briefing in four cases slated for argument during the 2024-25 term. In filings by Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris, the government told the justices that, with the change in administrations from former President Joe Biden to President Donald Trump, government officials had determined that federal agencies in each case – the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Education – should take another look at the regulations, … Read the rest

TikTok, Biden, Trump present arguments over app ban to justices

TikTok, Biden, Trump present arguments over app ban to justices

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The Biden administration on Friday afternoon urged the Supreme Court to leave in place a federal law that would require TikTok to shut down in the United States unless its parent company can sell off the U.S. company by Jan. 19. U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar told the justices that the social media giant “collects vast swaths of data about tens of millions of Americans, which” China “could use for espionage or blackmail.” Moreover, she added, China could “covertly … Read the rest

Trump taps lawyer who argued his immunity case for solicitor general

Trump taps lawyer who argued his immunity case for solicitor general

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President-elect Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he intends to nominate D. John Sauer, who successfully argued in the Supreme Court earlier this year that Trump is entitled to broad immunity from prosecution, to serve as the solicitor general of the United States.

Trump made the announcement in a statement on Thursday evening, calling Sauer a “deeply accomplished, masterful appellate attorney.”

The 50-year-old Sauer has many of the credentials associated with others who have served as the country’s top … Read the rest

Special Counsel Jack Smith revises indictment against Trump

Special Counsel Jack Smith revises indictment against Trump

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Just under two months after a divided Supreme Court ruled that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution for their conduct in office, Special Counsel Jack Smith charged former President Donald Trump in a revised indictment alleging that Trump conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

The court’s July 1 ruling, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, held that former presidents can never be prosecuted for actions related to the core powers of their office. Moreover, the … Read the rest

Roberts court hands major wins to Trump, conservative movement in 2023-24 term

Roberts court hands major wins to Trump, conservative movement in 2023-24 term

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Former President Donald Trump loomed large over the Supreme Court’s 2023-24 term. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee for 2024 brought two cases to the justices and fared well in both; Trump could also benefit from the decision in a third case, brought by a defendant charged in the Jan. 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol.

But more broadly, the three justices that Trump nominated during his time in office cemented a 6-3 conservative majority that pushed the court further … Read the rest

Alito reject calls to recuse from Trump, Jan. 6 cases in light of flag controversies

Alito reject calls to recuse from Trump, Jan. 6 cases in light of flag controversies

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Two weeks after the New York Times first reported that an upside-down American flag – popular among the “Stop the Steal” movement – flew outside the Virginia home of Justice Samuel Alito in the days following the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks on the U.S. Capitol, Alito rebuffed requests from Democratic lawmakers to recuse himself from cases involving immunity for former President Donald Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 attacks and the scope of a federal criminal law … Read the rest