On this day in 1938, the Supreme Court heard argument in United States v. Carolene Products, on a law that prohibited interstate shipping of filled milk, an alternative to traditional dairy milk. Anastasia Boden wrote about the court’s eventual ruling in a column for SCOTUSblog in February, highlighting a footnote in then-Justice Harlan Fiske Stone’s majority opinion that has had profound effects on constitutional law.
At the Court
On Thursday, the justices met in a private conference to discuss cases and vote on petitions for review. Orders from that conference are expected this morning at 9:30 a.m. EDT.
On Friday, the court confirmed a report that Justice Samuel Alito was briefly hospitalized on March 20. For more on the court’s statement, see the On Site section below.
The court will next hear arguments on Monday, April 20, the first day of its April sitting.
Morning Reads
Trump files emergency appeal to keep building White House ballroom
Dan Diamond and Jonathan Edwards, The Washington Post
On Friday, the Trump administration asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to block “a federal judge’s order to halt the construction of President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom, arguing in an emergency motion that pausing the $400 million project would raise national security risks,” according to The Washington Post. “‘Time is of the essence!’ Justice Department lawyers wrote, saying that the planned 90,000-square-foot addition to the White House is being designed to defend against ‘hostile attacks via drones, ballistic missiles, bullets, biohazards’ and other potential threats to the president.” The administration noted that “it would seek emergency relief from the Supreme Court if necessary.”
Pam Bondi Wanted a Graceful Exit. But Trump Wanted Her Gone.
Glenn Thrush and Tyler Pager, The New York Times
In its story on when and why Trump parted ways with former Attorney General Pam Bondi, The New York Times revealed that Trump and Bondi’s conversation about her departure took place during their Wednesday trip together to the Supreme Court. “Bondi, downcast but determined, joined Mr. Trump for a glum crosstown drive to the Supreme Court, where they watched arguments in the birthright citizenship case. In the car, Mr. Trump told her it was time for a change at the top of the Justice Department.” The president then announced her firing in a Thursday morning social media post.
Trump administration can’t make colleges provide race-related data, judge rules
Nate Raymond, Reuters
U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV on Friday ruled that “[t]he Trump administration cannot force public universities in 17 U.S. states to turn over sweeping amounts of data so it can examine whether they have ceased considering race as an admissions factor,” issuing a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit “over a new data reporting requirement the Department of Education adopted in a survey used to gather information from colleges,” according to Reuters. The Department of Education is seeking “seven years of admissions data on the race and sex of students to track compliance with the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling ending affirmative action in higher education.” In Friday’s ruling, Saylor noted that “the Education Department had the statutory authority to seek such data but he said the ‘rushed and chaotic manner’ by which it adopted the new requirements led it to not properly engage with universities about problems they foresaw,” such as needing more time to ensure accuracy.
What to know about the battle over lawsuits alleging that Roundup weedkiller can cause cancer
David A. Lieb, Associated Press
Later this month, the Supreme Court will hear argument in a case on whether the company behind Roundup weedkiller can be sued under state laws by individuals who developed cancer while using Roundup. The company, Bayer, contends that it is protected from such lawsuits by federal law, which did not require labels with cancer warnings. Bayer has the support of the federal government in the case, but it’s not acting as if it will definitely win, according to the Associated Press. Instead, Bayer is pursuing a $7.25 billion settlement deal “intended to resolve most of the pending and future failure-to-warn claims involving Roundup” and working with state legislatures to bar the filing of such lawsuits in the future.
Nationwide Injunctions, a Crucial Check on Presidential Power, Are Not Dead Yet
Damon Root, Reason
In a column for Reason, Damon Root contended that the Supreme Court’s ruling last June limiting judges’ use of universal, or nationwide, injunctions, has not brought as much change to the legal system as some predicted it would. “[Y]ou may think that President Donald Trump is now free to implement his national agenda of immigration crackdowns without facing any more interference from pesky lower court judges, who have enjoined such presidential policies in the past,” Root wrote. But “the Supreme Court left the courthouse doors wide open for federal judges to block the president’s actions nationwide through other comparable legal mechanisms, such as national class-action lawsuits.”
On Site
From the SCOTUSblog Team
Supreme Court issues statement that Justice Alito was hospitalized approximately two weeks ago
Justice Samuel Alito was hospitalized on March 20 “[o]ut of an abundance of caution” and at the recommendation of his security detail, the Supreme Court’s Public Information Officer said in a statement released to reporters on Friday afternoon. The statement noted that “he returned home that night, as previously planned … and he returned to work the following Monday for oral argument.”
From the SCOTUSblog Team
The inscrutable Chief Justice John Roberts
Chief Justice John Roberts rarely speaks in public, and when he does so, he seems to studiously avoid saying anything particularly memorable. But when viewed in full, his public statements form a narrow but consistent philosophy.
Contributor Corner
What oral argument told us in the birthright citizenship case
In his Empirical SCOTUS column, Adam Feldman closely analyzed the transcript from the April 1 oral argument in the birthright citizenship case, exploring who drove the debate, what it centered on, and what this tells us about a possible outcome.
The Chief Justice, Chancellor of the Smithsonian
Speaking of Chief Justice John Roberts, during his public remarks a few weeks ago at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, Roberts said the “best thing about being the chief justice” is serving as chancellor of the Smithsonian Institution. “It’s an opportunity as the chancellor for me to participate in all of these amazing things, whether it’s the oceanographic facility or the planetarium or the African American History Museum or the Air and Space Museum or the Portrait Gallery,” Roberts said. “I find it incredibly rewarding.” (The chief justice added that another major perk of his role as chancellor is being able to “see the pandas before anybody else,” especially with his children when they were young.)
But why does the chief justice have this (somewhat peculiar) role?
Congress created the Smithsonian Institution – today “the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex” – in 1846, 10 years after accepting the bequest of English scientist James Smithson. Chief justices have served as chancellors of the Smithsonian since 1851, when Chief Justice Roger Taney first filled the position. Under the Smithsonian’s charter, the chief justice and vice president are ex officio members of the board, which means they “serve as a duty of their office.” Along with the head of the judiciary and the vice president, 15 other members serve on the board under appointments (six from Congress and nine from the general public). The Board of Regents is responsible for the administration of the Smithsonian, and the chief justice runs its meetings as its presiding officer.
At one of their meetings this October (the board typically meets quarterly), Roberts first “welcomed Regents and staff and called the meeting to order” (as per usual). The board then went on to discuss a number of written reports – such as the Smithsonian’s America’s Semiquincentennial Initiative and the “deaccession and return of three Cambodian Sculptures to the Kingdom of Cambodia.”
“As chancellor, [Roberts] is known to preside over meetings with a strict focus on rules and procedures, assiduously avoiding partisan debates — a demeanor that aligns with his reputation as an institutionalist and incrementalist jurist,” a June New York Times article noted. That’s not to say the position isn’t without its drama, however. In June 2025, Roberts reportedly denied an internal recommendation by a Republican board member to fire the head of its National Portrait Gallery at the suggestion of President Donald Trump. Following this, the board released a statement that pledged the institution’s existence as an “independent entity.”
SCOTUS Quote
JUSTICE SCALIA: “ … I didn’t understand Justice Breyer’s question where he said the amiable bank robber says, would you please step … Would you please step over here?”
JUSTICE BREYER: “Yeah, I’m walking into a bank robbery where they have about –”
JUSTICE SCALIA: “Step over there or I’ll blow your head off is what he says.”
MR. FLETCHER: “Yes, and I imagine a request –“
JUSTICE BREYER: “My – my example was meant to encompass a polite, but armed, bank robber.”
— Whitfield v. United States (2014)
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