As the 2025-26 Supreme Court term unfolds, the Trump administration is bringing key issues before the justices, potentially reshaping significant legal landscapes. Following a recent win regarding universal injunctions tied to President Trump’s executive order terminating birthright citizenship, the administration anticipates that matters concerning this order will soon return to the Supreme Court’s docket. Notably, government attorneys cited a forthcoming cert petition to justify extended response periods in related lawsuits.
The administration has already actively petitioned the court to address several issues this term. One involves the Second Amendment rights of habitual drug users, a subject of substantial legal and social interest, following previous decisions involving domestic-violence restraining orders and the historical context for firearm regulations. Federal officials argue against a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, which limits the federal government’s ability to apply a statute preventing habitual drug users from possessing firearms. This argument arises amidst ongoing defense of the prosecutions under this statute, which the government contends are necessary for public safety.
On the issue of asylum laws, the Trump administration seeks clarity on when an individual formally “arrives in the United States” under the Immigration and Nationality Act, especially in the context of ongoing disputes over border management policies. The administration’s stance is reviewed under the cert petition in Noem v. Al Otro Lado, which challenges decisions by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit relating to the asylum application process at the U.S.-Mexico border.
In addition, the administration is engaged in numerous other pending cert petitions as either a respondent or defender of prior federal policies. These range from varied topics such as tax laws and telemarketing restrictions to contentious matters like Trump’s tariffs, with imminent filings expected to challenge recent unfavorable rulings by the Federal Circuit.
This term is also likely to include appearances on the Supreme Court’s emergency docket, a channel frequently and successfully utilized by the administration to counter lower court decisions over the past several months. The coming term presents a significant workload for Trump administration legal teams and could have widespread implications for numerous legal and legislative areas.
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