Courts on CrossGov.com

Census Bureau Proposes Excluding Noncitizens From the 2030 Apportionment Count and Dropping Race and Ethnicity Questions

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Census Bureau has proposed a rule for the 2030 census that would exclude people who are neither citizens nor green-card holders from the population counts used to divide the 435 House seats among the states. It would also drop the questions on race and Hispanic origin. The proposal was published in the Federal Register as document 2026-18481. The comment period has been extended to 2 November, the day before the midterms.

Judge Blocks USDA From Relocating About 2,600 Staff, Citing Limits Congress Wrote Into Spending Law That Run to December 11

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Judge Vince Chhabria of the federal district court in San Francisco on 13 October blocked the Agriculture Department from moving about 2,600 employees out of Washington and other offices under its reorganisation plan.

The judge relied on limits Congress wrote into appropriations law, which bar USDA from using funds to relocate staff or close offices without notifying and consulting the appropriations committees. Those provisions are in the continuing resolution that funds the government until 11 December. The order lasts at least as long as the limits remain in force.

Supreme Court Agrees to Decide Whether DOGE Must Answer Questions in a FOIA Case, and Takes Up the Asylum Material Support Bar

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Supreme Court on 13 October agreed to hear U.S. DOGE Service v. U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (No. 25-1103). The case asks whether a judge can order discovery from the White House cost-cutting office in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

CREW sued to get DOGE records, arguing the office acts as a federal agency and so is covered by FOIA. The district court let CREW question DOGE officials and seek documents to establish how the office worked. The administration says DOGE advises the President and is exempt, and that ordering discovery into a presidential advisory body intrudes on the executive branch. It relies on Cheney v. U.S. District Court (2004), in which the justices limited discovery into Vice President Dick Cheney’s energy task force.

Supreme Court Hears Whether Judges Still Defer to the Sentencing Commission's Commentary After Loper Bright

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Supreme Court heard arguments on 13 October in Beaird v. United States (No. 25-5343), a case about how much weight judges must give the US Sentencing Commission’s own explanations of its guidelines.

The defendant received a longer sentence because the firearm in his case had a 17-round magazine, which the commission’s commentary treats as a “large capacity magazine.” His lawyers argue the guideline text doesn’t say that, and that judges shouldn’t defer to commentary that goes beyond the text.