Overview
- Following Wednesday's hearing, transcript analyses found broad skepticism across the bench, punctuated by Chief Justice John Roberts' line, 'It's a new world. It's the same Constitution.'
- Solicitor General D. John Sauer urged a narrow reading of 'subject to the jurisdiction' tied to parents' allegiance and domicile, while ACLU counsel Cecillia Wang relied on the 1898 Wong Kim Ark precedent to defend near‑universal citizenship by birth on U.S. soil.
- Trump attended in a first for a sitting president and left before arguments ended, and ACLU leader Anthony Romero said he asked to be moved to a seat directly in front of the justices.
- Several justices pressed how 19th‑century cases about Native American status, including Elk v. Wilkins, inform the original meaning of the Citizenship Clause and what that implies for children of noncitizen parents.
- Lower‑court injunctions remain in force, so the executive order is not in effect and existing birthright rules continue while the Court deliberates.