Supreme Court gets ready to drop its bombshells
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Media outside the Supreme Court. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
The Supreme Court is about to drop a string of blockbuster rulings, with abortion rights, gun rights and the Justice Department's case against former President Trump all hanging in the balance.
The big picture: Two years after overturning Roe v. Wade — and with questions about some of the justices' ethics and impartiality at a fever pitch — the court is squarely in the center of election-year politics. The remaining slate of high-profile cases is all but guaranteed to turn up the heat even further.
- The court has 23 cases left to decide, and will likely hand down all of those opinions by the end of the month, give or take a few days — meaning the next week or so may redefine the limits of presidential power for generations to come.
Trump's immunity claim
There's no bigger blockbuster in that mix than former President Trump's claims of "absolute immunity" from criminal prosecution.
- He has argued not only that he cannot be prosecuted for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, but that no president can ever be prosecuted for anything they do while in office.
- During oral arguments in Trump's case, several justices seemed inclined to rule that presidents can't be prosecuted for their official acts, but may be liable for acts that aren't part of their presidential duties.
- The court might kick the case back down to lower courts to help draw that distinction, avoiding a clear ruling on the specifics of the case against Trump.
- But even that would be a win for Trump, because he wouldn't go to trial until after Inauguration Day.
The intrigue: Separately, the justices are considering whether to throw out one of the charges against another Jan. 6 defendant. If they do, the same charge would have to be dropped from the case against Trump.
Executive power
The conservative court has struck down all manner of major federal regulations, from environmental rules to the Biden administration's COVID vaccine mandate and more.
- Now, it's debating whether to kill a longstanding doctrine that gives federal agencies an advantage when their policies are challenged in court.
- If that doctrine dies, the courts will likely block significantly more executive actions, particularly environmental regulations.
Hot-button issues on the docket
Guns: The court will decide whether to strike down state laws that keep people who are subject to restraining orders for domestic violence from carrying guns.
Big Tech: GOP lawmakers in Texas and Florida passed laws that limit content moderation on social media platforms, which the tech industry has challenged on First Amendment grounds.
- The justices seemed uneasy with those laws during oral arguments, but the court isn't always super adept with tech-focused issues.
Abortion: One blockbuster is already out of the way — the justices unanimously rejected a challenge to the FDA's approval of mifepristone, a drug used in medication abortions.
- But the court hasn't ruled yet in a separate case that asks whether doctors can perform abortions in a medical emergency.
