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The Trump administration on Thursday filed an application in the Supreme Court to stay a district court order that prevented the National Institutes of Health from, according to the application, “terminating $783 million in grants that contravened the Administration’s policy positions on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and gender ideology.” The administration also requested an administrative stay of the order. (Application.)
President Trump on Thursday withdrew the nomination of Alina Habba for New Jersey U.S. attorney in an effort to place her in that role in an acting capacity. (Politico.)
Jack Goldsmith and Anne Joseph O’Connell discussed whether Habba was properly appointed as interim U.S. attorney in New Jersey in March, whether the court-appointed replacement for Habba was properly fired, Trump’s withdrawal of Habba’s nomination for the purpose of inserting her back into that position, and the reasons for the strange appointments and vacancies structure that yielded this saga. (Executive Functions.)
The Federal Communications Commission announced Thursday that it would authorize the $8 billion merger of Paramount and Skydance. This comes after Paramount earlier this month agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit brought by President Trump over CBS’s editing of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris. (NYT.)
Nick Bednar analyzed how a recently announced Trump administration executive branch personnel policy fits into the administration’s effort to move the executive branch workforce away from merit-based employment and toward a patronage model. (Lawfare.)
Pending Interim Order Applications Involving the U.S. Government in the Supreme Court
National Institutes of Health, et al. v. American Public Health Association, et al.: Government filed application on July 24 to stay district court order that prevented the National Institutes of Health from canceling grants that, according to the administration, are related to DEI and “gender ideology.”