The Supreme Court began its 2025-2026 term on October 6, 2025, with a docket featuring critical cases on executive power, voting rights, and constitutional law. The October session includes 10 oral arguments over five days, with several cases that could fundamentally reshape American governance.
Key …
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Brookings June 26, 2025, analysis warned Trump’s deployment of 700 Marines and 4,000 federalized National Guard to LA violates Posse Comitatus Act. Trump invoked 10 USC §12406 (not Insurrection Act) claiming “inherent constitutional authority” to protect federal property. …
Brookings InstitutionLegal scholarsDepartment of DefenseDepartment of Homeland SecurityTrump Administrationanalysiscivil-militaryinsurrection-actposse-comitatuslegal-analysis+2 more
Supreme Court rejected dangerous “independent state legislature” theory in Moore v. Harper with 6-3 decision, preserving state courts’ ability to review federal election laws under state constitutions. Theory would have given state legislatures unchecked power over federal …
US Supreme CourtNorth Carolina LegislatureDemocracy advocatesindependent-state-legislaturesupreme-courtelection-lawconstitutional-lawchecks-and-balances+1 more
The Senate’s second impeachment trial of Donald Trump began on February 9, 2021, with a four-hour constitutional debate centered on the fundamental question: can the Senate try a former president? In a 56-44 vote, the Senate affirmed that the trial was constitutional and could proceed, with …
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Supreme Court dismissed all three pending emoluments clause lawsuits against Trump as moot after he left office, including CREW v. Trump, DC/Maryland v. Trump, and Blumenthal v. Trump (200+ Democratic members of Congress). The Court vacated lower court decisions that had allowed cases to proceed, …
US Supreme CourtDonald TrumpCREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington)District of ColumbiaMaryland+1 moreemolumentssupreme-courtconstitutional-lawjudicial-dismissalaccountability-failure
On January 25, 2021, exactly two weeks after the House voted to impeach Donald Trump and five days after President Biden’s inauguration, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi transmitted the single article of impeachment—charging Trump with “incitement of insurrection”—to the Senate. The nine …
Special Counsel Robert Mueller publicly clarified his investigation\u0027s constraints, stating that DOJ policy prohibits charging a sitting president with a federal crime. Mueller emphasized that \u0027under long-standing Department policy, a President cannot be charged with a federal crime while …
Robert MuellerWilliam Barrconstitutional-lawrobert-muellertrump-investigationlegal-constraintsdoj-policy
U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon ruled in Klayman v. Obama that the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of American telephone metadata likely violated the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures. In a strongly-worded 68-page opinion, Judge Leon …
Richard LeonNSALarry Klaymannsa-surveillancefourth-amendmentjudicial-oversightconstitutional-lawprivacy-rights
FISA Court Judge Roger Vinson delivered a significant rebuke to the Bush administration by rejecting the government’s attempt to rewrite FISA statutes to permit expanded warrantless surveillance inside the United States. The government sought to stretch FISA’s definition of a …
Roger VinsonFISA CourtNSABush AdministrationDepartment of Justicefisa-courtjudicial-rebukewarrantless-surveillancefourth-amendmentconstitutional-law+1 more
Congress passes the most restrictive version of the Boland Amendment, explicitly prohibiting any U.S. government agency involved in intelligence activities from providing support for military or paramilitary operations in Nicaragua. The amendment, effective from October 3, 1984, to December 3, 1985, …
Edward BolandRonald ReaganIran-Contracongressional-oversightNicaraguaReagan-administrationconstitutional-law