Nondelegation · rejected
IRA provides sufficient guidance to HHS and CMS under the "intelligible principle" test.
August 24–September 6, 2026 · Sunday Edition · 58 days to midterms
Per curiam · Aug 24, 2026 · Nos. 26A124 & 26A139 · Sotomayor dissent (Kagan, J., joined); Jackson, J., dissenting
Six days before the Postal Service published its final ballot rule, the Supreme Court's conservative majority stayed Judge Indira Talwani's injunction against the President's mail-in voting executive order — holding that 23 states and D.C. challenged the order before any final agency action existed, making their lawsuit premature under ripeness doctrine.
Sources: SCOTUS — No. 26A124 · SCOTUSblog — case page
Shadow docket · per curiam · Aug 24
Majority · per curiam
Held the challenge was premature — the EO directed rulemaking but imposed no binding obligations until USPS finalized its regulations. Left the door open for states to sue again once the final rule published Aug. 26.
Dissents · Sotomayor & Jackson
Justice Sotomayor, joined by Justice Kagan, argued the EO's directive to compile voter lists and prioritize prosecutions already inflicted concrete harm. Justice Jackson wrote separately that ripeness should not shield an order affecting November elections.
Source: Reuters — Aug 24 ruling
Follow-up · D. Mass. · Sep 3–4 hearing
Three days after the Supreme Court cleared the executive order, USPS published its final rule in the Federal Register. States and voting-rights groups immediately renewed their challenges — and on September 4, Judge Talwani granted a preliminary injunction blocking mandatory sections of the rule for the November 3 midterms, finding the rushed implementation threatened mass disenfranchisement and that the agency's ballot-tracking portal was not ready for launch.
Aug 26 final rule · 39 C.F.R. pt. 111
Mandatory barcode tracking on outbound ballot envelopes, state portal registration requirements, and standardized ballot-mail procedures — effective ahead of midterms per 91 Fed. Reg. 54966.
Sep 4 preliminary injunction
USPS prohibited from implementing mandatory sections for the November 3 election. At the Sep 3 hearing, USPS's chief customer officer conceded the state portal was not ready — undermining DOJ's irreparable-harm argument.
Sources: Talwani PI order — Sep 4 · Bloomberg Law — Sep 3 hearing
Follow-up · No. 26A203 · Aug 31
Ten days after Chief Justice Roberts issued a solo administrative stay, the full Court voted 5–4 to keep above-ground construction of the $400 million White House ballroom moving — shifting the rationale from equitable balance to standing. The majority held the National Trust's member likely lacked Article III standing because aesthetic objections to the project's scale and massing are not concrete, particularized injuries. Roberts joined the three Democratic appointees in dissent, calling the project "likely unlawful" for lack of congressional authorization.
"The construction is likely unlawful … This is no victory for the separation of powers."
Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., dissenting · National Park Service v. National Trust · Aug 31, 2026
Sources: SCOTUS — No. 26A203 · Reuters — 5–4 ruling
Shadow docket · Sep 4, 2026
On the eve of midterm advertising season, the Supreme Court per curiam stayed the Fourth Circuit's ruling that limited favorable broadcast rates — known as "lowest unit charge" under 47 U.S.C. § 315(b)(1)(A) — to candidates alone, excluding party committees and joint fundraising committees. The Court held the Fourth Circuit likely lacked jurisdiction because Democratic candidates filed their petition for review while their FCC application for review was still pending — skipping the administrative step the Communications Act requires.
Sources: SCOTUS — No. 26A274 · SCOTUSblog — Amy Howe
LUC
Lowest unit charge restored for party committees through midterms · effective Sep 4
Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins asked the Supreme Court on Friday night to pause a unanimous Missouri Supreme Court ruling requiring the state to use its 2022 congressional map rather than a 2025 redraw that could give Republicans an additional House seat. Hoskins argued the state court's referendum-driven injunction violates the Elections Clause by allowing 3.3% of voters to override the legislature's redistricting authority — and that changing maps after August primaries inflicts "unprecedented chaos" on election officials.
Sep 3
Missouri Supreme Court unanimously grants referendum proponents' injunction, blocking HB 1 map.
Sep 4
State court denies Hoskins' motion for stay pending appeal; Hoskins files emergency application at SCOTUS (No. 26A304).
Pending
Hoskins seeks administrative stay before Missouri's ballot deadline — general election map in limbo.
Sources: SCOTUSblog — emergency application · SCOTUS — No. 26A304
Shadow docket · Sep 1
Sep 5
State ballot deadline · response due noon Wednesday
Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh on Tuesday ordered Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and the Board of State Canvassers to respond by noon Wednesday to an emergency application seeking to place a citizen-only voting ballot initiative on the November ballot. Proponents filed at SCOTUS after the Michigan Supreme Court took no action on their state-court appeal — with absentee ballots scheduled to mail Sep 24.
Follow-up · E.D. Va. · Aug 24
$0M
deal the FTC challenged as pay-a-rival-to-exit
One hour before the antitrust bench trial was set to open before Judge Anthony Trenga, the FTC and five states notified the court they would file a stipulated order resolving the challenge to Zillow's $100 million payment for Redfin to exit the internet listing services market for up to nine years. Redfin must re-establish its independent ILS business within six months and invest millions to compete — a structural remedy the commission said achieved faster results than trial.
Sources: FTC press release — Aug 24 · Law.com — settlement
Congress · Aug 31–Sep 4
Lawmakers returned from a five-week recess Monday with a single critical deadline: keep the government funded past October 1 without a pre-midterm shutdown. The Senate-passed continuing resolution extends funding through December 11 on autopilot — with bipartisan add-ons restricting grant-cancellation authority and preserving SNAP, WIC, and disaster relief. GOP leaders fast-tracked the bill under suspension, requiring a two-thirds vote.
Senate
90–6 · Aug
House
Suspension vote
President
Signature pending
FY 2027
Dec 11
Sources: Federal News Network — Aug 31 · NBC News — CR preview
5th Circuit · Aug 26, 2026
A Fifth Circuit panel affirmed the constitutionality of the Inflation Reduction Act's Medicare drug price negotiation program — rejecting challenges under the nondelegation doctrine, the Eighth Amendment's Excessive Fines Clause, and due process. The court held manufacturers participate voluntarily and providers lack a protected interest in reimbursement at preferred levels.
Nondelegation · rejected
IRA provides sufficient guidance to HHS and CMS under the "intelligible principle" test.
Excessive fines · rejected
Excise tax is a tax for AIA purposes; post-payment refund suit not a realistic alternative given staggering accrual.
Due process · rejected
Voluntary Medicare participation; no protected property interest in preferred pricing.
Sources: 5th Cir. — No. 23-60207 · Thomson Reuters — analysis
Order List · Friday, September 4, 2026
The Court's first September order list denied stays in several pending applications while the week's shadow-docket action centered on election administration. Notable denials included emergency applications in Shekar v. Teledyne Technologies (No. 25A1388) and Cemex v. NLRB (No. 26A118).
Source: SCOTUS — order list Sep 4
State highlight · Missouri
The Missouri Supreme Court's Sep 3 ruling that a referendum petition was "legal, sufficient, and timely" under the state constitution — blocking a Republican-drawn map used in August primaries — creates a state-level test of the Elections Clause now before the U.S. Supreme Court. If Hoskins' emergency application fails, Missouri election officials face running the general election on a map different from the one used in primaries.
Suspension vote on H.R. 6500 before Labor Day recess — two-thirds threshold requires bipartisan support.
Administration expected to seek SCOTUS stay of Talwani's Sep 4 injunction on the ballot-mail final rule.
Three-week pre-midterm session opens; CLARITY Act cloture vote on calendar for Sep 15.
Senate cloture on motion to proceed to H.R. 3633 — first floor test for crypto market-structure legislation.
Government response due in USF College Republicans v. Lutnick cert petition (No. 26-223).
CNN's brief in opposition due in Trump v. Cable News Network, Inc., No. 26-223.
Absentee ballots begin mailing as Kavanaugh weighs Michigan ballot-initiative emergency application.
Federal fiscal year opens — CR required by Sep 30 or partial shutdown before midterms.