December Supreme Court Docket

The Supreme Court is set to consider several important cases, including one about the Trump administration's actions to reshape independent agencies and another regarding campaign finance rules. One case focuses on President Trump's attempt to dismiss a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) member, challenging a 1935 ruling that requires the president to have cause to remove FTC commissioners—a rule that has since protected officials at similar agencies. Some justices are now questioning whether such restrictions infringe on presidential authority over the executive branch, raising the possibility of overturning this precedent.

Another case before the court concerns the legality of federal limits on political parties coordinating spending with their candidates. Current law lets donors give more to political parties than to individual candidates, but Senate and House Republican campaign groups claim that coordination caps violate First Amendment free speech rights. Opponents caution that removing these limits could undermine existing campaign finance regulations. In a significant development on Monday, the Supreme Court quickly reversed a lower federal court's decision that blocked Texas' new congressional map, permitting the state to implement the redrawn boundaries from 2026 onward. Although much attention centers on the Supreme Court’s looming judgment on reciprocal tariffs, other forthcoming decisions may also have wide-reaching effects