House returns · SCOTUS orders
House reconvenes after recess; Monday 9:30 a.m. EDT order list expected as the term enters its final opinion-release window.
June 15–21, 2026 · October Term 2025 · decision season · summer solstice week
9–0
United States v. Hemani · No. 24-1234
On the term's penultimate opinion Thursday, Justice Neil Gorsuch held unanimously that prosecuting Ali Danial Hemani — a Texas man who used marijuana every other day — for possessing a firearm under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3) violates the Second Amendment. The government failed to identify a historical tradition for disarming ordinary drug users; every justice agreed the Fifth Circuit's dismissal of Hemani's indictment should stand.
Sources: Supreme Court — No. 24-1234, June 18, 2026 · SCOTUSblog — Hemani, June 18
9–0
Gorsuch's majority applied the Bruen framework: the government must show the challenged regulation is consistent with the Nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation. Laws targeting "habitual drunkards" were too narrow and differently structured to justify §922(g)(3)'s sweeping ban on any unlawful drug user's possession of any firearm.
Justice Clarence Thomas concurred to flag a separate Commerce Clause problem — prosecuting possession solely because a gun once crossed state lines. Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justice Elena Kagan, agreed with the result but rejected the majority's reasoning on incapacitation analogies. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, joined by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, warned the opinion's historical methodology invites arbitrary line-drawing.
Source: LII — No. 24-1234 slip opinion
“The government is not required to point to a historical twin — but the challenged regulation must be consistent with the principles that underpin our regulatory tradition.”
— Justice Neil Gorsuch, applying New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn. v. Bruen in United States v. Hemani
Hemani surrendered a handgun during a 2022 Texas search; the government charged him without alleging interstate sale or transport beyond the firearm having previously traveled in commerce — a theory Thomas urged the Court to revisit in a future case.
Criminal procedure · plea agreements
8–1 · Kagan, J. · Thomas, J., dissenting
William Hunter pleaded guilty to drug and firearm offenses with a standard appeal waiver, then challenged a supervised-release condition requiring antipsychotic medication. The Fifth Circuit enforced the waiver under a narrow rule: appeals are barred unless the sentence exceeds the statutory maximum.
Justice Elena Kagan adopted the majority approach among the circuits: an appeal waiver is unenforceable when it would produce a miscarriage of justice — an egregious, obvious error that would bring the judicial system into disrepute. Routine sentencing mistakes do not qualify.
The Court vacated and remanded for the Fifth Circuit to decide whether Hunter's medication condition meets that high bar. Justice Amy Coney Barrett concurred separately; Justice Clarence Thomas dissented, arguing courts should not police appeal waivers beyond knowing-and-voluntary requirements.
Source: LII — No. 24-1063
Federal Circuit · en banc · June 17
26-1575 · 5 U.S.C. § 1201
Immigration judges Megan Jackler and Brandon Jaroch were terminated in February 2025 without the cause-and-notice protections the Civil Service Reform Act provides. The Merit Systems Protection Board upheld the firings in March 2026, holding that IJs are "inferior officers" removable at the Attorney General's pleasure under Article II.
On June 17, the Federal Circuit granted a rare initial en banc hearing to decide whether CSRA procedural protections conflict with presidential removal power — a question with implications far beyond the immigration bench. Senate Democrats filed an amicus brief warning the MSPB ruling could expand at-will firing across the civil service.
Sources: Fed Circuit Blog — June 17 order · MSPB 2026 MSPB 3
EEOC guidance (longstanding)
Title VII disparate-impact theory permits enforcement when neutral employment practices produce unequal outcomes — even without intentional discrimination.
DOJ legal opinion (June 17)
The Department of Justice concluded the EEOC's disparate-impact framework is unconstitutional as applied — arguing Title VII guarantees equal treatment, not equal outcomes, and that the guidance may pressure race-conscious hiring to avoid liability.
The opinion does not itself change federal law: disparate-impact claims remain available under Supreme Court precedent and the Civil Rights Act of 1991. But it signals a sharp shift in how DOJ — and potentially a realigned EEOC — will approach investigations and enforcement.
proposed Anti-Weaponization Fund
In re Anti-Weaponization Fund Litigation · E.D. Va.
Since last week: Judge Leonie M. Brinkema ordered Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to file sworn declarations confirming they would not create or operate the $1.8 billion settlement fund tied to President Trump's IRS lawsuit. On June 19, DOJ told the court such declarations were "unnecessary" and raised separation-of-powers concerns — pointing instead to Blanche's congressional testimony that the fund is "not going forward, period."
Absent the declarations, the Virginia challenge proceeds toward merits briefing rather than dismissal as moot.
Source: CNN Politics — June 19 filing
Since last edition: After the House failed to extend Title VII authorities on June 11, 50 U.S.C. § 1881a reached its statutory sunset at midnight June 12 — the first lapse of the foreign-intelligence surveillance program Congress created in the FISA Amendments Act. Existing FISC certifications may sustain collection categories through March 2027, but lawmakers left for recess until June 23 without a short-term fix.
President Trump nominated Jay Clayton as permanent DNI on June 11, but later demanded his confirmation be paired with a U.S. Attorney nominee and that any FISA extension attach the SAVE America Act's proof-of-citizenship voting requirements — conditions that complicated the bipartisan reauthorization talks Democrats had conditioned on removing acting DNI Bill Pulte.
Sources: Recording Law — Section 702 lapse analysis · Defense One — June 11
Bipartisan moment · legislative tracker
The Senate voted 87-8 to take up the bicameral housing package — the largest bipartisan housing legislation in decades. The compromise streamlines environmental reviews, ties federal grants to local permitting reform, and restricts large institutional investors from buying new single-family homes. Senate leadership filed cloture on a further amendment; final passage was expected the week of June 23.
Sources: Senate Roll Call 175 · Deseret News — June 19
31 U.S.C. § 3729 · N.D. Ala. · June 18, 2026
Source: DOJ OPA — June 18, 2026
TSCA · 40 C.F.R. Part 745 · ReArch Company Inc.
On June 16, EPA Region 1 resolved alleged Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule violations at the Woolen Mill Apartments in Newport, New Hampshire — including failure to contain dust, cover floors, post warning signs, and maintain compliance records during work on pre-1978 housing.
Source: EPA — June 16, 2026
October Term 2025 · opinion inventory as of June 17
High-profile disputes still outstanding include Wolford v. Lopez (Hawaii private-property carry restrictions), Humphrey's Executor challenges to agency independence, and immigration TPS terminations. SCOTUSblog analysis suggests the Court is on pace to finish by July 1 — with potential opinion days June 23–25 and beyond.
Federal legal calendar · June 22–28, 2026
House reconvenes after recess; Monday 9:30 a.m. EDT order list expected as the term enters its final opinion-release window.
Remaining argued cases — including Wolford v. Lopez and agency-removal disputes — may issue before the summer recess.
Final passage expected on H.R.6644 after cloture; bill returns to the House for concurrence before heading to the President.
Federal Circuit en banc briefing begins — petitioners' opening brief due in fired-immigration-judge removal challenge.
Paperwork Reduction Act comment period closes on EO 14398 federal-contractor reporting requirements — 91 Fed. Reg. 24544.