On Friday, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to pause a lower-court ruling that would halt DOJ White House ballroom construction. The request puts the dispute on the emergency docket as the justices prepare to release their second of three summer order lists at 9:30 a.m. EDT.
Supreme Court emergency docket
The filing joins another Trump-related request already before the court. On July 27, the Trump administration asked the justices to clear the way for President Donald Trump's executive order on mail-in voting, and 12 states later echoed that request in their own application.
One week later, 23 states and the District of Columbia asked the court to deny those requests. Last Wednesday, the Trump administration urged the justices to promptly issue their decision, leaving the mail-ballot dispute and the White House ballroom case moving through the same emergency track.
Sheldon Whitehouse on reform
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island said, “There’s constant and building dismay about the increasingly appalling record of the court.” He added, “And I think the continuing interest in reform springs from continued dismay and concern about the court’s misbehavior.”
Whitehouse’s comments came as proposals circulate that would increase the number of justices from nine to 13, cut lifetime terms to 18 years, create an enforceable ethics code, and place standards on how the court rules from its relatively opaque shadow docket.
Trump requests before the court
The justices are weighing two high-profile requests from President Donald Trump on his mail ballot restrictions and White House ballroom construction. They also received several other emergency applications in the past week, including a contempt fight from Apple, an execution, and an effort to save a vicious dog from euthanasia.
The ballroom filing lands while emergency work is building during the summer recess, and the justices are being asked to move quickly on overlapping disputes with different stakes. The immediate question is whether the court will pause the lower-court ruling long enough for the White House construction to keep going while the emergency docket stays crowded.
