Good morning. We’re starting the week in a government shutdown. President Trump and lawmakers have made no progress on a deal that would reopen the government. Here’s what else is happening:
We have more news below. But first, we look ahead at the potential consequences of the Supreme Court term that begins today.
Can he do that?
Over and over, challengers have tried to block Trump’s agenda in court. And, over and over, the president has asked the Supreme Court for emergency permission to carry out his policies. Most of the time, the justices (along partisan lines) have sent a message: Go ahead — for the moment. We’ll weigh the legal questions later. Later is now. The Supreme Court term that begins today could hold generational consequences. “It’s hard to imagine bigger tests of presidential power,” says one lawyer who appears frequently before the justices. While the court holds arguments for roughly 60 cases over the course of its term on a wide range of topics, the main action is about what the president can do. The docket we knowThe court has already agreed to hear several cases on presidential power. Tariffs. In November, the justices will consider whether the administration can tax imports by invoking a 1970s-era emergency law. The International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, has typically been used to impose sanctions and embargoes against other nations. It does not mention the word “tariff.” Independent agencies. In December, the court will examine whether Trump can fire a Democratic leader of the Federal Trade Commission. The case revisits a 90-year-old precedent that says Congress can protect independent regulators from being removed solely over policy disagreements. The Fed. Can Trump fire Lisa Cook, the Federal Reserve governor who he says committed mortgage fraud? The Fed is independent so that the central bank can make economic decisions apart from political pressures, but the president can fire its leaders for cause. Does he have cause? Cook has not been charged with a crime, and her lawyers say the allegations are flimsy. The docket to comeThen there are cases the justices have not yet accepted — but will probably have to decide, eventually. Birthright citizenship. The president said by executive order that people born in the United States are not automatically entitled to citizenship if their parents are not citizens. That would upend more than a hundred years of precedent and change what it means to be an American. After losing in the lower courts, the White House has already asked the justices to weigh in. More Trump challenges. Other cases in the pipeline ask these questions:
Other big casesThe blockbuster arguments won’t just be about the separation of powers. Here are some other consequential cases the justices will hear. Conversion therapy. In 2019, Colorado banned therapists from counseling minors to change their sexuality or gender identity. A Christian therapist challenged the law, and the justices will hear arguments tomorrow. I wrote about the case here. Trans athletes. State laws in Idaho and West Virginia that bar transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports teams are also coming before the court this term. Redistricting. Can states take race into account when drawing congressional districts — grouping minority voters together to ensure fair representation for Black Americans? In a redo of a case last term from Louisiana, the justices are considering the broader question of whether to overturn a key section of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Voting by mail. Can a federal elected official sue to stop a state from counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day? If successful, the lawsuit brought by a Republican congressman from Illinois could lead to other efforts to restrict voting by mail. My colleague Abbie VanSickle and I explore the cases and what legal scholars make of them here.
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Three projects by the architect David Adjaye are scheduled to open this fall: the Princeton University Art Museum; the Museum of West African Art in Benin City, Nigeria; and the Studio Museum in Harlem. But public admiration is unlikely this time around: The institutions appear to be keeping their distance from him, more than two years after he was accused of sexual misconduct, Alex Marshall writes, and it is unclear whether Adjaye will appear at any of the museums’ opening celebrations. Adjaye has denied the allegations against him. More on culture
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