The Supreme Court scheduled a rare May oral argument on the Trump administration’s emergency request to narrow a series of nationwide blocks on President Trump’s executive order that would restrict birthright citizenship.
The administration has not yet asked the justices to settle the constitutionality of Trump’s order but has asked the high court to rein in lower judges that went beyond the parties who sued to block the president’s order nationwide.
Thursday’s order defers a ruling on the applications until after the newly scheduled oral arguments May 15, meaning Trump’s plan will remain blocked, for now.
The development is rare in multiple respects. The justices typically only hear oral arguments between October and April, and the vast majority of emergency applications are resolved without the justices holding an argument.
Signed on his first day in office, Trump’s order would curb birthright citizenship for children born on U.S. soil to parents without permanent legal status, a sweeping restriction that multiple judges have found is inconsistent with the Supreme Court’s long-standing interpretation of the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause.
The administration appealed nationwide injunctions issued by federal judges in Greenbelt, Md., Seattle and Boston, all of which were upheld by appeals courts. Trump’s order has come under nearly a dozen lawsuits in total, including some challenges that have not yet reached the justices.
The request is part of a series of emergency applications the administration has filed at the Supreme Court urging the justices to stop a smattering of nationwide injunctions, insisting district judges are overstepping their authority and improperly stymying Trump’s agenda.
The Justice Department is asking the justices to limit the injunctions to only block Trump’s policy blocked as applied to the individuals, organizations and 22 Democratic-led states that are suing.
Updated at 2:26 p.m. EDT
