Breaking News
EMERGENCY DOCKET

Watchdog agency head tells justices to stay out of firing dispute

By Amy Howe on Feb. 18 at 5:50 p.m.

The head of the agency tasked with protecting government whistleblowers urged the justices on Tuesday to deny the Trump administration’s request to allow his removal. Hampton Dellinger was fired on Feb. 7 in an email that did not include any of the reasons federal law requires for firing the head of an independent agency, such as “malfeasance in office.” A federal judge stepped in to require the president to temporarily reinstate him. The Trump administration then came to the Supreme Court on Sunday asking the justices to immediately intervene.

News cameras in front of the Supreme Court

The district court is fast-tracking the case, Dellinger told the justices, and could decide it “in ways that avoid any need for this Court’s intervention.” (Katie Barlow)

EMERGENCY DOCKET

Trump asks court to allow firing of watchdog agency official

By Amy Howe updated on Feb. 18 at 12:37 p.m.

On Sunday night, the Trump administration asked the justices to immediately step in and block a federal judge’s order that would require the president to temporarily reinstate the head of the Office of Special Counsel, the watchdog agency that protects federal employees, particularly whistleblowers, from retaliation. 

CASE PREVIEW

A death row plea for DNA testing

By Amy Howe on Feb. 13 at 11:38 a.m.

Ruben Gutierrez has long maintained that access to DNA testing on several pieces of evidence would exonerate him of the 1998 Brownsville, Tex., murder for which he was sentenced to death. Gutierrez was sentenced for killing 85-year-old Escolastica Harrison but argues that he was not in the house when two other men killed her. Last year, a lower court ruled that Gutierrez does not have the right to sue over Texas’s DNA testing law.

SCOTUS BACKGROUND

A history of birthright citizenship at the Supreme Court

By Amy Howe updated on Feb. 6 at 2:04 p.m.

On Jan. 20, President Donald Trump issued an executive order ending birthright citizenship in the United States. A Reagan-appointed federal judge in Seattle quickly blocked the order, calling it “blatantly unconstitutional.” As the dispute moves through the lower courts, a look at the Supreme Court’s most significant rulings on the guarantee of citizenship to anyone born in the United States.

Advocates in Conversation

San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu on the city’s Clean Water Act case

More News

WHAT WE'RE READING

The morning read for Wednesday, Feb. 19

By Ellena Erskine on Feb 19, 2025 at 9:48 am

Each weekday, we select a short list of news articles and commentary related to the Supreme Court. Here’s the Wednesday morning read:

Coming up: On Friday, Feb. 21, the court expects to issue one or more opinions from the current term. We’ll be live at 9:45 a.m. EDT.

WHAT WE'RE READING

The morning read for Tuesday, Feb. 18

By Ellena Erskine on Feb 18, 2025 at 11:24 am

Each weekday, we select a short list of news articles and commentary related to the Supreme Court. Here’s the Tuesday morning read:

WHAT WE'RE READING

The morning read for Friday, Feb. 14

By Ellena Erskine on Feb 14, 2025 at 9:35 am

Each weekday, we select a short list of news articles and commentary related to the Supreme Court. Here’s the Friday morning read:

WHAT WE'RE READING

The morning read for Thursday, Feb. 13

By Ellena Erskine on Feb 13, 2025 at 9:33 am

Each weekday, we select a short list of news articles and commentary related to the Supreme Court. Here’s the Thursday morning read:

WHAT WE'RE READING

The morning read for Wednesday, Feb. 12

By Ellena Erskine on Feb 12, 2025 at 9:39 am

Each weekday, we select a short list of news articles and commentary related to the Supreme Court. Here’s the Wednesday morning read:

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