Executive Functions Roundup
“You were not terminated on the basis of your personal performance.”
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Judge William H. Alsup (N.D.Cal) on Friday permanently enjoined the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) from ordering or directing federal agencies to terminate their employees, unless otherwise permitted by statute, and required agencies to update the files of terminated employees to reflect that their termination was not performance or conduct based. (Order.)
Judge Tanya S. Chutkan (D.D.C.) on Saturday ordered the government to submit a sworn statement detailing its efforts to prevent the deportations of five migrants to their home countries, consistent with court-ordered protections, after they were deported to Ghana. Judge Chutkan declined to order the repatriation of the migrants, noting that her “hands may be tied” after an earlier Supreme Court ruling on the administration’s deportation policies. (Emergency Motion for Interim Relief.) (NYT.)
The Trump administration argued on Sunday that the president’s decision to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook was “an unreviewable exercise of the discretion Congress vested” in the president, justifying its effort to block Cook from participating in the Federal Open Market Committee’s meeting this week on interest rates. (NYT.) For background on the administration’s emergency request, see a previous Roundup.
Jack Goldsmith argued that the major questions doctrine does not preclude President Trump’s invocation of IEEPA authorities to justify his tariffs. (Executive Functions.) Jason Willick argued that the Supreme Court’s ruling on Trump’s tariff authorities will have significant implications for executive power and the legitimacy of the Court. (WaPo.)
Adam Liptak argued that partisan affiliations appear to map on to the voting records of individual justices on emergency applications filed by the Biden and Trump administrations. (NYT.) Jonathan Adler responded that the Trump administration’s successes in seeking interim relief from the Supreme Court can be attributed to careful case selection. (Volokh Conspiracy.)
Pending Interim Order Applications Involving the U.S. Government in the Supreme Court
Department of State v. AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition: The government filed an emergency application on September 8 requesting the Supreme Court partially stay a district court injunction ordering the Trump administration to spend $4 billion in funds by September 30. The Supreme Court granted the government’s request for a partial stay pending further order of the Court and ordered a response to the government’s application on or before September 12. Respondents Global Health Council, et al. filed a response on September 12.
Trump v. Slaughter: The government filed an emergency application on September 4 requesting the Supreme Court stay a district court decision to allow the firing of FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter to proceed. The Supreme Court granted the government’s request for an administrative stay and ordered a response to the government’s application on or before September 15th.