The Supreme Court granted the Government's applications for partial stays of three universal injunctions that had blocked enforcement of President Trump's Executive Order No. 14160 on birthright citizenship. The Court held that universal injunctions likely exceed the equitable authority granted to federal courts under the Judiciary Act of 1789, and limited the injunctions to provide relief only to the named plaintiffs. The Court did not address the constitutionality of the Executive Order itself.

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The Supreme Court held that members of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force are inferior officers whose appointment by the Secretary of Health and Human Services is consistent with the Appointments Clause. The Court found that Task Force members are subject to the Secretary's supervision and direction through the Secretary's authority to remove them at will and to review and block their recommendations before they take effect. The Court also determined that Congress properly vested appointment authority in the Secretary through two statutes: the 1999 law giving the AHRQ Director power to "convene" the Task Force (which includes appointment power) and Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1966 (ratified by Congress in 1984), which transfers the Director's functions to the Secretary.

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The Supreme Court dug into a tricky question about who gets to set fees on phone and internet companies to pay for universal service programs. At issue was whether Congress handed too much lawmaking power to the Federal Communications Commission, and then whether the FCC handed too much of its power to a private group that crunches the numbers. Justice Kagan, writing for the Court’s majority, said Congress gave clear instructions on how to calculate those fees and that the FCC still calls the final shots.

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