DL Open Thread: Wednesday, September 3, 2025

It All Ends At The Supreme Court:

A federal appeals court late Tuesday blocked President Trump from using an 18th-century wartime law to quickly deport a group of Venezuelans, rejecting the administration’s argument that the migrants were part of an “invasion” of the United States.

The Trump administration has said the migrants are members of Tren de Aragua, a violent gang with roots in Venezuela. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said in a 2-1 ruling on Tuesday that it did not find that the law, the Alien Enemies Act, applied to the migrants’ case. The court said that it found no “invasion or predatory incursion” by a foreign power.

The case appears set to return to the Supreme Court in what is shaping up to be a decisive battle over Mr. Trump’s ability to use the Alien Enemies Act.

Lee Gelernt, a lawyer who argued the case for the American Civil Liberties Union, praised the ruling, saying in a statement: “This is an enormous victory for the rule of law, making clear that the President cannot simply declare a military emergency and then invoke whatever powers he wants.”

Meanwhile, DOD Seeks To Address ‘Lumpy Mattress Syndrome’:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has tasked the branches of the armed services with finding up to 600 military lawyers to serve as temporary immigration judges in response to a request for assistance from the Department of Homeland Security, two people familiar with the request told The Washington Post.

The Pentagon is looking to identify military lawyers, known as judge advocates general, or JAGs, across active-duty services, the National Guard and the reserves to step in as judges to support immigration or law enforcement court proceedings. The Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration is already filling some court dockets, and both the military and the Department of Homeland Security are looking for ways to support expanded operations in Chicago and other major American cities.

But the use of military lawyers has raised concern, another person familiar with the planning said — speaking like the others on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation — that those officers may not have experience with immigration court proceedings or may receive insufficient training for complicated and potentially life-altering deportation hearings.

Well, yes, it’s called ‘part of the plan’.  As illegal as it might be:

Earlier Tuesday a federal judge ruled that Trump’s use of the National Guard in a similar operation this summer in Los Angeles violated the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits troops under federal control from being used for law enforcement purposes. The administration is expected to immediately appeal the ruling by U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer, and it was not immediately clear how the court’s action might affect the administration’s plans for Chicago.

Again, it (meaning the rule of law) ends at the Supreme Court.  Oh, yes, yet another ruling Trump seeks from the Supreme Court:

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he will ask the Supreme Court for an “expedited ruling” to overturn an appeals court decision that found most of his tariffs on imports from other countries are illegal.

“If you take away tariffs, we could end up being a third-world country,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in a 7-4 ruling on Friday, said that Trump does not have the authority to implement most of his tariffs.

The appeals court delayed its ruling from taking effect until Oct. 14 to allow the Trump administration time to ask the Supreme Court to take the case and overturn the decision.

The tariffs affected by Friday’s ruling were implemented by Trump this year under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and slapped duties as high as 50% on imports from some countries. The tariffs also included duties imposed on China, Canada and Mexico — who are the among the U.S.‘s largest trading partners — because of those countries’ purportedly not doing enough to stem the flow of the deadly opioid fentanyl into the United States.

The Federal Circuit appeals court, in ruling that those tariffs are not legal, said, “The core Congressional power to impose taxes such as tariffs is vested exclusively in the legislative branch by the Constitution.”

“Tariffs are a core Congressional power,” the court said.

Betcha the Supreme Court doesn’t agree.

FWIW, I do believe that Trump is in serious physical decline.  And speculation is not the same as irresponsible speculation.  And, if it’s to be characterized as ‘irresponsible’, so what?  Here are a precious few pieces on this issue.  ‘Classic Signs Of Dementia’.  Ditto.  ‘Series Of Strokes?’.  ‘Why Trump Used The Oval Office For Presser’:

I think he can’t stay on his feet long enough to get through a press meet in the usual places.

Think about it. In any other WH venue — the briefing room, the East Room, the lawn — Trump has to stand while taking questions from the press. The Oval Office is the only place where he can legitimately stay seated while interacting with the press.

This explains why he picked the Oval Office — the place where presidents make the most solemn pronouncements, such as going to war, declining to run for re-election, resigning — to tell us that he is moving the space command center, something we already knew.

It explains why he was 50 minutes late; he needed extra time to make sure he could walk to the office and sit behind the desk without any help. Had he been already seated when the press was shown in — contrary to Oval Office precedent, protocol, and expectations — it would have intensified the very alarms Trump was trying to silence.