This week, we’ll be keeping our eyes out for developments in a number of different areas: National Guard Cases SCOTUS has no scheduled arguments this week, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be activity there. With the Chicago National Guard case already before the Court, on Friday, the administration appealed the Oregon decision that permanently enjoined the president from deploying National Guard troops to Portland. And on Monday, all parties in the Chicago case will file their final briefs. The Supreme Court has not yet scheduled the Chicago case itself for oral argument. The emergency appeal, an effort by the administration to end the lower court stay that prevents Trump from deploying troops while the litigation is underway, could be decided this week, after the briefs are in. The underpinning of the White House’s argument in both Chicago and Portland is that the troops were being sent to “protect federal assets and personnel,” pursuant to Title 10 of the U.S. Code, which allows the president to federalize troops under certain designated circumstances. The White House argues that the courts may not review the president’s decision to deploy. Reporting last week suggested that only 2.6% of 614 people arrested during “Operation Midway Blitz” in Chicago had criminal histories, per DOJ records. If statistics like that are reflected in the record when the Court considers the case, it would undercut Trump’s argument that federal property had to be protected from attack by dangerous criminals. The Epstein Files In a dramatic Sunday night reversal, Trump wrote on Truth Social that Republicans in Congress “should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide.”
Of course, if that were true, he wouldn’t have been fighting the release for months. Which leads us to wonder, what changed? Was Trump’s dramatic Twitter breakup with Marjorie Taylor Greene, whom he alternately dubbed Marjorie Treason Green and Marjorie Taylor Brown, all for nothing? Perhaps Trump is just caving into the inevitable. It seems likely that a big tranche of Republicans is set to vote for the release measure, whether he wants them to or not. Or perhaps it’s the knowledge that with DOJ having opened a new investigation, albeit only into Democrats, there is reason to withhold at least some portion of the documents. It was only two days ago that Trump called on the Justice Department to investigate the connection between prominent Democrats named in Epstein’s text messages and the convicted sex offender, as well as the role of financial institutions. DOJ routinely delays release of evidence involved in a criminal investigation until it is complete. Trump could have the best of both worlds—supporting release while knowing his lawyers would object. We’ll have to watch to see how it all plays out this week. Pardons On the opposite end of the spectrum from the revenge prosecutions, like those against Jim Comey and Letitia James that the DOJ has launched, the rewards Trump is handing out—pardons for those he favors. That’s what happened last week in the case of Dan Wilson, who received a second pardon from Trump. Wilson, a militia member who participated in the January 6 insurrection, had been previously pardoned for that offense. But he also stood convicted of illegal firearm possession in Kentucky. Trump, the man who is so outraged by what he claims is crime driven by “illegal aliens,” used his pardon power to erase the gun charge for Wilson, too.
The message couldn’t be more clear. Trump is reminding the MAGA-faithful about the value of loyalty to the cult leader. He doesn’t care about people who put our communities at risk of violence, the rationale he’s trotted out in Portland and Chicago. It’s a disgraceful exercise of the power the Founders entrusted to presidents so that they could do justice. There could be more this week. Book Tour Note If you’re in Birmingham, Alabama, I’ll be signing books at the Barnes and Noble at The Summit from 6:00 PM -8:00 PM. I’d love to get to see you! We’re in this together, Joyce
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Sunday, November 16, 2025
The Week Ahead
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