Another Supreme Court Loss For Trump
The deadline for the Trump administration to ask the Supreme Court to reconsider its ruling on President Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order passed Tuesday without the Department of Justice filing a petition for rehearing.
The administration had 25 days to request that the nation’s highest court revisit its decision regarding Trump’s effort to end automatic birthright citizenship for certain children born in the United States.
Earlier this month, Trump indicated he intended to seek another review of the case.
“I will be asking for a Rehearing by the United States Supreme Court, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on July 9. “This miscarriage of justice will destroy America if they don’t change their absolutely insane decision.”
The Supreme Court rarely grants rehearing requests and has not reconsidered a case since its 1956 decision in Reid v. Covert.
Rather than pursuing another Supreme Court review, Republican lawmakers have shifted their focus to legislation that would change federal law governing birthright citizenship.
The effort follows comments from Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who wrote that while Trump’s executive order did not violate the Constitution, it conflicted with current federal law.
Earlier this month, Rep. John McGuire introduced legislation that would amend Section 301(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which currently grants U.S. citizenship at birth to individuals born in the United States who are subject to its jurisdiction. The proposal would also establish new eligibility requirements tied to the immigration status of parents.
Sen. Jim Banks later introduced similar legislation in the Senate aimed at codifying President Trump’s executive order into federal law.
Banks argued that Congress should act after the Supreme Court’s ruling, saying lawmakers need to prevent illegal immigrants from using existing birthright citizenship laws to obtain citizenship for children born in the United States.
With the rehearing deadline now expired, the administration’s efforts to change birthright citizenship appear likely to continue through Congress rather than through another Supreme Court challenge.
