Covering the Supreme Court, lower courts, and the law

The Trump Administration, in its boldest legal maneuver so far, asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to settle in the next few months the long-standing constitutional dispute over how much power Presidents have to run the national government. The issue, still in some doubt after 237 years of the Constitution’s history, is this: did the… Read More

A deeply divided Supreme Court on Monday afternoon shut down a federal judge’s efforts to stop the Trump Administration from secretly deporting foreign nationals under an 18th Century wartime enemies law, but ruled unanimously that anyone facing that threat from now on must first get a chance to pursue a court challenge. By a vote… Read More

The Supreme Court on Wednesday gave the federal government narrow authority to limit the spread of do-it-yourself kits that are used to make guns that cannot be traced after being used in a crime. The ruling on so-called “ghost guns” was important, but it also could easily be misunderstood as broader than it actually was…. Read More

Government lawyers, in a new race through the federal courts, are claiming an unlimited power for President Trump – an authority intended for use only in wartime that has been used just three times during actual wars. That is an authority, granted by Congress 236 years ago, that would allow Trump to deport immediately any… Read More

The Supreme Court, taking its first action on President Trump’s sweeping campaign to dismantle federal agencies and programs, temporarily blocked today a cutoff of nearly $2 billion in funding for foreign aid. The order, though, was very narrow and will soon be overtaken by events developing in lower courts. By a 5-to-4 vote on Wednesday… Read More

Exactly 228 years ago today, March 4, 1797, George Washington finished his second term as President, ready to retire quietly to being a plantation farmer at Mount Vernon. Four years from now, America could be asking itself: will President Trump be willing to step aside? In fact, Trump and some of his followers already are… Read More

The first test to reach the Supreme Court of President Trump’s sweeping claims of unchecked constitutional power over the government resulted Friday night in a brief setback, keeping a fired federal official in his job for another five days. Little of final meaning can be read into the Court’s ruling, which amounted only to a… Read More

America may face an economic calamity if the Supreme Court rules too broadly on President Trump’s power to fire government officials, a starkly worded legal brief by professors specializing in finance law told the Justices on Tuesday afternoon. No matter how the Justices rule on a pending case involving Trump’s sudden removal, without cause, of… Read More

UPDATED Sunday evening: Arguing that federal judges across the nation are wrongly blocking major policies of the new Trump Administration, Justice Department lawyers rushed to the Supreme Court on Sunday seeking emergency help.  The 35-page filing asked for an immediate order to undo, temporarily, a trial court judge’s order reinstating an official fired by President… Read More

A historic Supreme Court ruling that has been a sturdy part of the Constitution’s checks on the awesome powers of the Presidency could be the next landmark to fall. The Trump Administration plans to ask the Court to overrule that 90-year-old decision as part of wide-ranging efforts to build up presidential authority. In a letter… Read More