The Trump administration’s war on the judiciary continues, and this time he’s suing judges. Also, he’s trying to install his henchman Emil Bove in the Third Circuit as a reward for burning down the firewall between the White House and the DOJ. Luckily SCOTUS is distracting us by cramming as many horrible decisions as possible into the last two days of the term.

Links:

SCOTUS 23-1002 Hewitt v. United States https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-1002_1p24.pdf

SCOTUS 23-1275 Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-1275_e2pg.pdf

SCOTUS 23-7809 Gutierrez v. Saenz https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-7809_3e04.pdf

A judge sided with Trump. Behind the scenes, he was lobbying for a nomination.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/20/ed-artau-trump-judge-nomination-florida-00415408

Erez Reuveni DOJ Whistleblower Report

https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documenttools/e285ec96adf8d443/5868d536-full.pdf

Law and Chaos, The Trump Administration Is Lawless. Judges Are Adapting. [Substack post]

https://www.lawandchaospod.com/p/the-trump-administration-is-lawless

Tatis v. Big League Advance Fund

https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/tatis-vs-big-league-advance-fund.pdf

US v. Russell [Docket via Court Listener]

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70627303/united-states-of-america-v-russell/

Show Links:

https://www.lawandchaospod.com/

BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod

Threads: @LawAndChaosPod

Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod

The Supreme Court’s howler monkey wing greenlights Trump’s third country renditions without notice and cuts the legs out from underneath the entire federal judiciary. So much for CJ Roberts, protector of the courts! And the Ninth Circuit lets Trump steal California’s National Guard for a fictitious emergency. In better news, Harvard gets an injunction against the government’s effort to kneecap it by blocking foreign students. And Disney takes on Midjourney, the AI company whose business model appears to rest on wholesale copyright infringement. 

Links:

Supreme Court Shadow Docket Order DHS v. DVD https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a1153_l5gm.pdf

President and Fellows of Harvard College v. United States Department of Homeland Security [Docket via Court Listener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70349156/president-and-fellows-of-harvard-college-v-united-states-department-of/ 

Newsom v. Trump [Trial Docket via Court Listener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70496361/newsom-v-trump/

Newsom v. Trump [9th Circuit Docket via Court Listener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70527602/newsom-et-al-v-trump-et-al/

US v. Abrego [TN Criminal Docket via Court Listener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70475970/united-states-v-garcia/

Disney v. Midjourney (C.D. Cal.) [docket via CourtListener]

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70513159/disney-enterprises-inc-v-midjourney-inc/

Midjourney Terms of Service

https://docs.midjourney.com/hc/en-us/articles/32083055291277-Terms-of-Service

2022 Midjouney interview in The Register

https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/01/david_holz_midjourney/

Show Links:

https://www.lawandchaospod.com/

BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod

Threads: @LawAndChaosPod

Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod

This week the Supreme Court’s conservatives greenlit an all-out attack on trans kids and their healthcare. So much for parents’ rights! At least Alex Jones is still bankrupt. And the trustee in his bankruptcy case just sued him to claw back millions of dollars in “fraudulent” transfers to his friends and family. Plus, we’ll discuss NYC Comptroller Brad Lander, Judge Hannah Dugan, and everyone else swept up in ICE’s deranged dragnet.

Links:

US v. Skrmetti (S. Ct. 2025)

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-477_2cp3.pdf

Alex Jones bankruptcy (S.D. Texas) [docket via CourtListener]

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/66583024/alexander-e-jones-and-official-committee-of-unsecured-creditors

Show Links:

https://www.lawandchaospod.com/

BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod

Threads: @LawAndChaosPod

Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod

Liz and Andrew welcome Lawfare’s Anna Bower back to the show to discuss her singular obsession: who is the administrator of DOGE? Find out why that’s still a critical question and what discovering the answer might mean in terms of undoing policy, preserving records, and more.

Links:

Who Is The Administrator of DOGE, by Anna Bower

https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/lawfare-daily--witaod

Show Links:

https://www.lawandchaospod.com/

BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod

Threads: @LawAndChaosPod

Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod

A federal judge has ruled that Donald Trump illegally seized control of the California National Guard. We tell you everything that means and what happens next. Also, Kilmar Abrego Garcia is home and facing trumped-up charges in Tennessee. And Alina Habba is still cosplaying as a prosecutor, and this time she’s decided to try and indict a sitting member of Congress for doing her job.

Links:

Newsom v. Trump [Docket via Court Listener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70496361/newsom-v-trump/

Abrego Garcia v. Noem [Docket via Court Listener]

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69777799/abrego-garcia-v-noem/

US v. Abrego Garcia [docket via Court Listener]

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70475970/united-states-v-garcia/

US v. Mciver [Docket via Court Listener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70317726/united-states-v-mciver

Show Links:

https://www.lawandchaospod.com/

BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod

Threads: @LawAndChaosPod

Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod

The Trump administration is trying to provoke a riot in California by “federalizing” the National Guard. We’ll tell you what that means and what legal recourse blue states and cities have to resist being occupied by the military. Plus, it turns out that the Trump administration could facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia after all, it just needed to gin up a dubious criminal indictment first. And finally, Justin Baldoni’s trollsuit against Blake Lively meets precisely the demise we told you it would.

Links:

US v. Abrego Garcia [docket via Court Listener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70475970/united-states-v-garcia/

DHS Referral to DOJ (Abrego Garcia) https://www.ice.gov/doclib/news/releases/2025/25_0418_hsi_referral-abrego-garcia.pdf

Abrego Garcia v. Noem [District Docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69777799/abrego-garcia-v-noem/

Harvard College v. Department of Health and Human Services [Docket via Court Listener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69921962/president-and-fellows-of-harvard-college-v-us-department-of-health-and/

White House Memo Federalizing National Guard

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/06/department-of-defense-security-for-the-protection-of-department-of-homeland-security-functions/

Show Links:

https://www.lawandchaospod.com/

BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod

Threads: @LawAndChaosPod

Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod

Justin Baldoni’s lawyers are wilding out, the Justice Department is suing to purge North Carolina’s voter rolls, and Pillow Pumper Mike Lindell is teaching us about journalism shield laws. And for subscribers: Have Trump’s minions discovered one weird trick that will allow them to steal Congress’s tariff authority?

Links:

Kingdom v. Trump

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69717615/kingdom-v-trump/

Trump's Justice Department examining pardons issued by Biden

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trumps-justice-department-examining-pardons-issued-by-biden-2025-06-02/

US v. Navarro

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/63359365/united-states-v-navarro/

J.G.G. v. Trump [District Court Docket]

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69741724/jgg-v-trump/

Wayfarer Studios v. Lively

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69550325/wayfarer-studios-llc-v-lively/

Lively v. Wayfarer Studios, LLC

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69510553/lively-v-wayfarer-studios-llc/

Coomer v. Lindell

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/63296393/coomer-v-lindell/

Covington & Burling tariffs article

https://www.cov.com/-/media/files/corporate/publications/2016/12/law360_the_presidents_long_forgotten_power_to_raise_tariffs.pdf

19 USC 1338

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/19/1338

US v. North Carolina State Board of Elections [docket via Court Listener]

ttps://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70380331/united-states-v-north-carolina-state-board-of-elections/

Help America Vote Act, 52 USC 21083

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/52/21083

Show Links:

https://www.lawandchaospod.com/

BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod

Threads: @LawAndChaosPod

Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod

The Trump Administration is putting the Justice Department in a terrible bind. DOJ lawyers can tell judges the truth and admit that the government is deliberately violating court orders. Or they can bob and weave and prevaricate and cross their fingers and hope it all comes out okay. But that strategy is running into a brick wall as courts are increasingly ruling against the government. Plus for subscribers: How low will SCOTUS go to protect the sacred right to walk around with a giant murder cannon slung over our shoulders? 

Links:

The Trump Administration Is Lawless. Judges Are Adapting.

https://www.lawandchaospod.com/p/the-trump-administration-is-lawless

Judge Russell Standing Order

https://www.mdd.uscourts.gov/sites/mdd/files/Amended%202025-01.pdf

Trump v. Selzer [Docket via Court Listener]

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69476247/trump-v-selzer/

Arevalo Millan v. Trump [Docket via Court Listener]

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70294725/darwin-antonio-arevalo-millan-v-donald-j-trump/

Melgar-Salmeron v. Bondi

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70409956/melgar-salmeron-v-bondi/

SCOTUS Orders List for June 2, 20025

https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/060225zor_4f15.pdf

J.O.P. v. Department of Homeland Security [District Court Docket]

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/15867241/jop-v-us-department-of-homeland-security

Show Links:

https://www.lawandchaospod.com/

BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod

Threads: @LawAndChaosPod

Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod

This week Trump got his ass kicked in courts no one’s ever heard of! From tariffs to immigration, Harvard to WilmerHale, it’s been a week of losing bigly. Andrew and Liz will break it down and explain what’s next.

Links:

Harvard College v. Department of Health and Human Services [Docket via Court Listener]

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69921962/president-and-fellows-of-harvard-college-v-us-department-of-health-and/

V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump [District Court Docket via Court Listener]

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69888953/vos-selections-inc-v-donald-j-trump

V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump [Federal Circuit Docket via Court Listener]

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70394463/vos-selections-inc-v-trump/

WilmerHale v. Trump [Docket via Court Listener]

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69807328/wilmer-cutler-pickering-hale-and-dorr-llp-v-executive-office-of-the/

Jenner & Block v. DOJ [Docket via Court Listener]

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69807126/jenner-block-llp-v-us-department-of-justice/

MTA v. Duffy (Congestion Pricing) [Docket via Court Listener]

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69652290/metropolitan-transportation-authority-v-duffy/

D.V.D. v. Department of Homeland Security [Trial Docket via Court Listener]

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69775896/dvd-v-us-department-of-homeland-security/

Department of Homeland Security v. D.V.D. [SCOTUS Docket]

https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/24a1153.html

The Punch That Launched Trump’s War on American Universities

https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/trump-college-university-federal-funding-fight-91c2a274

How to Hide a Constitutional Crisis

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/05/legalistic-noncompliance/682927/

Show Links:

https://www.lawandchaospod.com/

BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod

Threads: @LawAndChaosPod

Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod

President Trump’s genius plan to announce that he’s about to violate the First Amendment — and then do it! — runs into the judicial buzzsaw as two federal courts restrain his attacks on Harvard and the law firm Jenner & Block. And his campaign’s lawsuit against Iowa pollster Ann Selzer continues to be a humiliating series of self-owns. But SCOTUS hands the administration a win by allowing the president to fire anyone and everyone. They exempted Fed Chair Jerome Powell for, uh, reasons.

Links:

Jenner & Block v. DOJ [Docket via Court Listener]

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69807126/jenner-block-llp-v-us-department-of-justice

Trump v. Selzer [Docket via Court Listener]

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69476247/trump-v-selzer/

Trump Allies Look to Benefit From Pro Bono Promises by Elite Law Firms

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/25/business/trump-law-firms-pro-bono.html

Trump v. Wilcox [Supreme Court order]

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a966_1b8e.pdf

Seila Law v. CFPB

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/19-7_n6io.pdf

President and Fellows of Harvard College v. DHS [docket via CourtListener]

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70349156/president-and-fellows-of-harvard-college-v-united-states-department-of/

Show Links:

https://www.lawandchaospod.com/

BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod

Threads: @LawAndChaosPod

Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod