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The U.S. Supreme Court has addressed several cases involving challenges to executive orders signed by President Donald Trump and actions taken by his administration since he returned to office in January 2017. These cases encompass various issues, including birthright citizenship, deportations, protected status for certain migrants, a transgender military ban, firings of federal workers and agency officials, dismantling the Education Department, cuts to teacher training and medical research grants, payments to foreign aid organizations, and access to Social Security data.
**Birthright Citizenship**
On June 27, the Supreme Court ruled that federal judges do not have unbridled authority to enforce presidential policies, curbing their power to issue nationwide rulings impeding Trump’s executive order restricting birthright citizenship. The ruling did not let the order go into effect immediately but directed lower courts to reconsider the scope of their orders. The decision granted a request by the Trump administration to narrow the scope of three nationwide injunctions issued by federal judges in Maryland, Massachusetts, and Washington state.
**Third-Country Deportations**
On June 23, the Supreme Court cleared the way for Trump’s administration to resume deporting migrants to countries other than their own without offering them a chance to show potential harm they could face. The court granted the administration’s request to lift an order requiring that migrants facing deportation to “third countries” get a “meaningful opportunity” to tell U.S. officials they are at risk of torture, while legal challenges play out.
**South Sudan Deportations**
On July 3, the Supreme Court lifted limits imposed by a judge to protect eight men whom the administration sought to deport to politically unstable South Sudan. The court granted a Justice Department request clarifying that its June 23 decision also extended to a separate May 21 ruling that found the administration had violated an injunction in attempting to send migrants to South Sudan.
**Revoking Immigration Parole**
On May 30, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to revoke the temporary legal status of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan, Cuban, Haitian, and Nicaraguan migrants living in the United States. It put on hold a district judge’s order halting the administration’s move to end “parole” granted by Joe Biden’s predecessor to 532,000 such migrants, potentially exposing many to rapid removal.
**Protected Status for Venezuelan Migrants**
On May 19, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to end temporary protected status (TPS) granted to hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans in the United States by Biden. It granted a Justice Department request to lift an injunction that had halted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s decision to terminate deportation protection for Venezuelan migrants under TPS.
**Deportation of Venezuelan Migrants**
On May 16, the Supreme Court upheld its previous block on Trump’s deportations of Venezuelan migrants under a 1798 law used only in wartime. The court faulted his administration for seeking to remove them without adequate due process.
**Wrongly Deported Salvadoran Man**
On April 10, the Supreme Court directed the administration to facilitate the return of an Salvadoran man who was deported in error. The Justice Department had asked the court to throw out a district judge’s order requiring the administration to “facilitate and effectuate” the return.
**Transgender Military Ban**
On May 6, the Supreme Court permitted the Trump administration to implement its ban on transgender people in the U.S. military, allowing for thousands of current troops to be discharged or rejected as new recruits while legal challenges play out.
**Mass Federal Layoffs**
On July 8, the Supreme Court cleared the way for the administration to pursue mass government job cuts and downsizing numerous agencies. It lifted a district judge’s order that had blocked large-scale federal layoffs called “reductions in force.”
**Consumer Product Safety Commission Removals**
On July 23, the Supreme Court allowed Trump to remove three Democratic members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, boosting his power over independent federal agencies.
**Labor Board Officials**
On May 22, the Supreme Court allowed Trump to keep two Democratic labor board officials away from their posts while their legal challenge to his firings proceeds.
**Fired Federal Employees**
On April 8, the Supreme Court blocked a judge’s order for Trump’s administration to rehire thousands of fired employees. It put on hold an injunction requiring six federal agencies to reinstate thousands of probationary workers.
**Education Department Dismantling**
On July 14, the Supreme Court cleared the way for the administration to dismantle the Department of Education, part of Trump’s bid to shrink the federal government’s role in education.
**Medical Research Grants Cuts**
On July 24, the Supreme Court allowed the administration to proceed with sweeping cuts to U.S. National Institutes of Health grants as part of a crackdown on diversity initiatives.
**Teacher Training Grants Cuts**
On April 4, the Supreme Court allowed Trump’s administration to proceed with millions of dollars in cuts to teacher training grants.
**Social Security Data Access**
On June 6, the Supreme Court permitted broad access by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to personal information on millions of Americans in Social Security Administration data systems. It put on hold a district judge’s order largely blocking DOGE’s access.
**DOGE Transparency Block**
On June 6, the Supreme Court extended its block on judicial orders requiring DOGE to turn over records to a government watchdog advocacy group seeking details on its operations.
**Foreign Aid Group Payments**
On March 5, the Supreme Court upheld an order that required the administration to promptly release funding to foreign aid organizations for their past work.
📚 Reading Comprehension Quiz
What did the U.S. Supreme Court decide regarding President Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship?
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