Trump's DOJ asks Supreme Court to freeze cases on student debt, environment

President Trump’s Justice Department on Friday asked the Supreme Court to freeze four pending cases implicating the environment or student debt as the new administration considers reversing the regulatory decisions underlying the lawsuits.

“After the change in Administration,” acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris told the justices in a series of motions, the government will "reassess the basis for and soundness" of the Biden-era actions.

None of the four cases has been scheduled for oral arguments, but they were teed up to be heard during the court’s March or April sessions and be decided this term. The Justice Department asked to halt all written briefing deadlines, which would put the cases on indefinite hold.

The new motions leave the door open “to have the briefing schedule reinstated should the matter not be resolved,” but the filings signal the disputes may become moot as the Trump administration moves to reverse the very decisions that spurred the legal challenges.

And beyond those cases, the Justice Department on Friday reversed the Biden administration’s position in the ongoing dispute over Louisiana’s congressional map, which includes an additional majority-Black district. The Biden administration argued the lower court applied the wrong legal framework in striking down the design, but Trump’s Justice Department is now withdrawing the position and its request to appear at oral arguments this spring.

It remains unclear how the new Justice Department will handle the other pending cases it took over from the Biden administration that are further along at the Supreme Court, particularly the fight over gender-affirming care bans for minors.

But the new filings begin the typical reversals in hot-button cases when a new party takes the presidency.

In one case, the Supreme Court is hearing the government’s appeal of a decision blocking a Biden administration rule that eases the ability for students to receive debt forgiveness if they were defrauded by their college. The motion indicates the challengers don’t oppose halting the case as the new administration weighs rescinding the rule.

The other three cases implicate environmental regulations, and court filings show at least one party in each is objecting to halting the schedule.

Weeks after the election, the Supreme Court agreed to consider reviving the oil and biofuel industry’s bid to axe California’s clean cars program reinstated by Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which would mandate stricter-than-federal vehicle emissions standards.

“Given the Acting Administrator’s determination, it would be appropriate for the Court to hold further proceedings in this case in abeyance to allow EPA to reassess the basis for and soundness of the 2022 reinstatement decision,” Harris wrote in the motion.

The Trump administration also asked the Supreme Court to halt two other environmental cases, which both consider what venue plaintiffs can sue in when challenging certain EPA actions. One arises from a dispute over whether Oklahoma and Utah need to come up with better plans to fight smog, while the other concerns whether some oil refineries can be exempt from requirements that their gasoline contain a percentage of ethanol.

The Trump administration has not yet sought to reverse its position on any pending case, though it could still do so.

That list includes the battle over whether Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors is constitutional. The Supreme Court heard the Biden administration’s challenge to the law in December, and the government could abandon its challenge under Trump.

The new filings mimic how the Biden administration handled several cases upon taking office.

In its early days, the Biden-era Justice Department asked the high court to freeze a major battle over Trump's bid to use funds appropriated for military spending for construction of the border wall. Biden halted the spending, and the court ultimately disposed of the case.

A similar trajectory took place in a battle over the legality of Trump's "Remain in Mexico" policy. The Supreme Court froze the case after Biden took office, and the justices later tossed the case as moot once he rescinded the policy.

Updated 5:36 p.m. EST

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