The Supreme Court has opened its new term. The court Monday rejected more than 800 pending appeals, including a challenge by Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's imprisoned ex-girlfriend. In its first arguments, the court also appeared to be inclined to rule against a criminal defendant from Texas in a case about the constitutional right to a lawyer. A major thrust of the next 10 months is expected to be the justices' evaluation of President Donald Trump's claims of presidential power. Pivotal cases on voting and LGBTQ rights also are on the agenda. On Tuesday, the justices will hear arguments over bans passed by many states on therapy aimed at changing sexual orientation or gender identity.

The Supreme Court is allowing Lisa Cook to remain as a Federal Reserve governor for now. The court is declining to act on the Trump administration's effort to immediately remove her. In a brief unsigned order Wednesday, the high court said it would hear arguments in January over President Donald Trump's effort to force Cook off the Fed board. The White House said it looks forward to "ultimate victory" after presenting those oral arguments. Cook's lawyers praised the court for "rightly" letting her stay in her job. The justices will consider whether to block a lower-court ruling in Cook's favor while her challenge to her firing by Trump continues.

Seventeen immigration court judges have been fired in recent days. That's according to the union that represents the judges. The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers says 15 judges were dismissed on Friday and two more on Monday. The firings occurred across ten states, including California, Texas, and New York. The union criticizes the move, calling it harmful as courts face a backlog of 3.5 million cases. Immigration courts, under the Justice Department, are already struggling with delays. The union claims over 100 judges have left or been fired since the Trump administration began, worsening the system's challenges. No comment has been provided by officials.

A federal judge in New Hampshire has issued a ruling pausing President Donald Trump's executive order ending birthright citizenship from taking effect anywhere in the United States. The judge issued a preliminary injunction Thursday blocking Trump's order and certified a class action lawsuit including all children who will be affected. The judge announced his decision, which includes a seven-day stay to allow for appeal, after an hourlong hearing. The ruling puts the birthright citizenship issue on a fast track to return to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court is allowing President Donald Trump's administration to enforce a ban on transgender people in the military, while legal challenges proceed. The high court acted Tuesday in the dispute over a policy that presumptively disqualifies transgender people from military service. The court's three liberal justices said they would have kept the policy on hold. Just after beginning his second term in January, Trump moved aggressively to roll back the rights of transgender people. Among the Republican president's actions was an executive order that claims the sexual identity of transgender service members "conflicts with a soldier's commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one's personal life" and is harmful to military readiness.

The federal judiciary is warning that Congress is not providing enough money for judges' security, at a time of escalating threats and chilling efforts at intimidation. More than five dozen judges handling lawsuits against the Trump administration are receiving "enhanced online security screening" that typically includes scrubbing their personal information from the internet. That's according to two federal judges appointed by Republican presidents and writing in a letter on behalf of the judiciary in a letter to congressional appropriators. President Donald Trump, senior aide Stephen Miller and billionaire Elon Musk have railed at judges who have blocked parts of Trump's agenda, threatening impeachment and launching personal attacks.

A federal appeals court says it is "shocking" that The Trump administration claims it can't do anything to free Kilmar Abrego Garcia from an El Salvador prison and return him to the U.S. A three-judge panel from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday unanimously refused to suspend a judge's decision to order sworn testimony by Trump administration officials to determine if they complied with her instruction to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return. Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, who was nominated by Republican President Ronald Reagan, wrote that he and his two colleagues "cling to the hope that it is not naïve to believe our good brethren in the Executive Branch perceive the rule of law as vital to the American ethos."

Judges in Texas and New York said they would temporarily bar the U.S. government from deporting Venezuelans jailed in parts of those two states while their lawyers challenge the Trump administration's use of a rarely-invoked law letting presidents imprison and deport noncitizens in times of war. The judges took actions Wednesday after civil rights lawyers sought to protect five men identified by the government as belonging to the Tren de Aragua gang, a claim their lawyers dispute. But the judges said some others in their judicial districts similarly situated would also be protected from the Alien Enemies Act-driven deportations.

Chief Justice John Roberts agreed Monday to pause a midnight deadline for the Trump administration to return a Maryland man mistakenly deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador. The administration appealed to the Supreme Court after a judge ordered the administration to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States by midnight. The administration has previously acknowledged he should not have been deported, but argued the government has no way to get him back from El Salvador.