Overview
- At a Washington, D.C., federal courthouse event moderated by Senior U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman, Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Brett Kavanaugh publicly debated the court’s growing reliance on emergency orders.
- Jackson criticized the uptick as creating a “warped” process that signals outcomes early and influences lower courts, saying the trend is not serving the court or the country well.
- Kavanaugh defended acting on urgent applications from any administration, citing modern executive action and litigation pressures, and said the court must keep the same posture regardless of who is president.
- Recent emergency rulings have repeatedly allowed Trump administration policies to take effect after lower-court defeats, including moves on federal personnel, agency control and immigration, typically without full briefing or oral argument.
- Empirical trackers reported a surge in filings during Trump’s second term, with Stephen Vladeck counting 19 applications in the first 20 weeks and the Brennan Center tallying roughly 30-plus so far, as both justices also voiced alarm over rising threats against judges.