The Trump administration on Friday asked the Supreme Court to allow it to restart rushed deportation flights of people labeled “alien enemies,” setting up the court for a major test of its willingness to let the president act unilaterally.
Government lawyers framed the matter as a core constitutional question, one that would determine who has ultimate authority on law enforcement operations.
“This case presents fundamental questions about who decides how to conduct sensitive national-security-related operations in this country — the president, through Article II, or the judiciary, through” temporary restraining orders, wrote Sarah M. Harris, the government’s acting solicitor general. “The Constitution supplies a clear answer: the president. The republic cannot afford a different choice.”