This Supreme Court Will Stop At Nothing to Save Donald Trump

Hawk reads the order rather than the coverage, and the distinction matters. The Court did not decide whether any of this is lawful. It held that the states lack standing because the order has not been implemented, that a president may direct agencies within his own branch, and that setting prosecutorial priorities falls under Article II. The majority says explicitly that implementation may still prove unlawful.

The dissent argues the two subsections cannot be read apart. Citizenship lists get built in one, investigations get prioritized in the next, and the government has conceded those lists will be incomplete.

Two things most reports will miss. Judge Indira Talwani has injunctions in two separate cases and today's order reaches only one. And Steve Vladeck notes the Postal Service rule is already written, with a ruling on it possible within hours.

Seventy days out, the practical timeline may matter more than the legal one.