Consider This from NPR - The Supreme Court cases to watch this term

Episode Date: October 5, 2026

The Supreme Court began a new term on Monday. The signature feature of the Trump presidency has been an effort to expand his own power as the executive and test his constitutional limits. So, it's not surprising that a lot of his agenda has wound up before the Supreme Court.This episode was produced by Connor Donevan, Jason Fuller and Brianna Scott, with audio engineering by Tiffany Vera Castro. Our director is Jonas Adams.It was edited by Dana Farrington, Anna Yukhananov, Christopher Intagliata, Patrick Jarenwattananon, and Tinbete Ermyas.Our interim executive producer is Courtney Dorning.Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

It's considered this where every day we look deeply at one big news story. Today, the Supreme Court begins a new term. The signature feature of the Trump presidency has been an effort to expand his own power as the executive and test his constitutional limits. So it's not surprising that a lot of his agenda has wound up before the Supreme Court. Last term, the court gave him many wins and a few big losses. The Supreme Court's ruling on tariffs is deeply... disappointing. Maybe most notably, striking down some of his tariffs. And I'm ashamed of certain members of the court, absolutely ashamed for not having the courage to do

what's right for our country. The court also blocked his attempt to end birthright citizenship for children born to certain immigrants in the U.S. who are here unlawfully or temporarily. He attended those arguments in person, the first president to do so in recorded history. President Trump will be looming over the court's deliberations again this term, metaphorically, if not physically, since many lawsuits challenging his policies are already on the court's docket or could be added.

Two big cases on immigration? We've done a great job on getting criminals out of our country, but we have to fight the court system quite a bit. Another on federal research funding. We do grants, which we're probably not going to be doing much grants anymore to Harvard. And his policy on transgender service members.

We bans transgenders from the military. We don't want transgender in the military. Consider this, with the president testing the constitutional order and Congress largely inert. Many of the most consequential and controversial decisions in American politics will once again land at the Supreme Court. From NPR, I'm Sasha Pfeiffer. It's Consider This from NPR. The Supreme Court opened its term Monday with a blockbuster case about climate change. We'll hear about those arguments later, but first, NPR's longtime Supreme Court reporter Nina Totenberg is here to walk us through

what to watch this term. And Nina, let's start with the talk this weekend about conservative justice Samuel Lito potentially retiring. What can you tell us about that? Well, there's been some pressure from fellow conservatives who want him to retire so a younger conservative can take his place while Republicans still control the White House and Congress. But he told CBS News that while he did think about stepping down this year, he decided against it. I could still make a valuable contribution. It's hard to give up the opportunity to do something that I think will be good for the Constitution and good for the country as long as I'm able to do it. So he may be with us, it sounds like, for the cases throughout this full term. And when we look at those cases and how the

docket has changed, how would you explain the changes? Well, to start out with the number of emergency appeals during the Trump administration has ballooned, while the number of fully briefed and argued cases, has plummeted. And the result of all that is that the Trump administration has managed, at least in the short run, to block most of the lower court decisions it doesn't like. That said, of course, the court will be hearing lots of fully briefed and argued cases in addition. Big test cases on immigration, guns, religion, climate change, and of course the upcoming election is likely to make at least a guest appearance. And as you look at all those cases, what's the number of one case getting your attention? My number one is a huge religion case. Why is that one on your focus?

Because on this subject, the current conservative court has already dramatically changed legal doctrine until it's like almost upside down. You know, for the better part of a century, the court emphasized the First Amendment separation of church and state and to a lesser extent, the free exercise of religion. Today, those two doctors, have been turned into opposite conditions, as it were. In this term's first big religion case, the question essentially is whether religious schools are entitled to full taxpayer funding. At issue is a Colorado law that provides universal preschool programs that are open to all students regardless of race, religion, or gender identity. A Catholic parish in Colorado wants the state's money for its pre-K program, but it doesn't want to admit LGBTQ students,

or students with gay or lesbian parents. So the question boils down to whether the school can discriminate on the basis of sex or whether the state can deny taxpayer funding to the school because they're denying equal opportunities, so the argument goes. The outcome could have profound consequences for not just this case, but also potentially for public schools across the country, especially charter schools, which are public schools. said there's also a gun case on the docket. Tell us about that one. Gun rights advocates are

challenging laws in about a dozen states that ban semi-automatic weapons, and the challenges contend that these laws violate the Second Amendment right to bear arms. They note that the AR-15 is one of the most popular guns in this country, for instance. On the other side, supporters of assault weapon bans counter that these weapons, which have often been used in mass shooting events, are simply too dangerous. And Nina, briefly, there are also cases waiting in the wings. One's not quite there yet, but very likely to be part of this term's work. Any of those you can talk about? Well, we have unknowns and knowns in this category. We really don't know what if any election disputes will make it to the court. On the known side, it's almost certain, and the court will take up the question of the Ten Commandments.

Four states have already passed laws requiring them to be posted in public school classrooms, but the Supreme Court would have to overrule its own precedence dating back almost a half century to do that. NPR's Nina Totenberg, thank you. Thank you. NPR's Kerry Johnson was at the court Monday to hear arguments over a lawsuit by the city of Boulder, Colorado. It's suing two energy giants to recover costs the city has spent, responding to wildfires and floods attributed to global warming. The energy companies argue that's too big an issue for state juries to decide. Carrie Johnson joins me now. Hi. Hi, Sasha. So what is at the heart of the city of Boulder's argument here?

Boulder argues Suncor and ExxonMobil deceived people for years about the harms of fossil fuels and that the companies should pay their fair share for the cost of responding to extreme weather events like wildfires, floods, heat emergencies. They filed this case back in 2018. It still has not gone to trial. They say they just want their day in court. And the energy companies, what's their counter argument? The companies say this issue is simply too big to let every state government weigh in with a lawsuit. They say climate change is global, and it's so important that the federal government needs to be in charge here. Suncor and Exxon say the Supreme Court should preclude or block these cases. Justice Brett Kavanaugh seemed pretty clearly to buy this argument. Here is Kavanaugh talking about the consequences of letting this bolder case proceed. It's going to bankrupt, you know, if there are enough of these, bankrupt these various defendants and certainly other defendants out there.

So maybe a sense of which way he's leaning. What else can you tell us about the arguments and other justices in their leanings? There were some tough questions all around for both sides here. Justice Elena Kagan likened this Boulder lawsuit to cases against big tobacco companies decades ago that the courts did allow to proceed. But this is the same kind of. lawsuit against the same kind of actors for the same kind of harm. And I guess I'm not understanding how it is that the one would be preempted and the other is not. Other justices asked whether they should even reach the substance of this case now because it's still at an early stage in Colorado's state court and the high court may not yet have jurisdiction. And only eight justices were on the bench today because Justice Sam Alito recused himself last week. So if this court deadlocks four to four,

Boulder could move forward with the case. The Supreme Court often weighs in on the side of business interest. Does that appear likely in this case? I talk with Jonathan Adler, a law professor at William and Mary. Adler heard the conservative justice is really grappling with that today. Whatever their sympathies are for some of the concerns about state courts driving federal climate change policy, the ask of the fossil fuel companies here to wholly preclude any and all litigation in this space is a very aggressive posture and would be quite a sweeping decision to go that far. A decision's expected in this case by the end of a term next summer. And Kerry, you've reported that the ruling in this case could have implications beyond global warming.

How could it do that? Absolutely. This case is already big because it could involve billions of dollars, energy companies on the hook for that much money. But it also could touch many other areas where states get harmed by conduct in and outside their borders. That includes things like AI and data centers, among other controversial issues. Interesting. That is NPR's Carrie Johnson, talking about the new Supreme Court term. Carrie, thank you. Thanks for having me. This episode was produced by Connor Donovan, Jason Fuller, and Brianna Scott, with audio engineering by Tiffany Vera Castro. Our director is Jonas Adams. It was edited by

Dana Farrington, Anna Yucananov, Christopher and Taliyata, Patrick Jaron Watanin, and Tinbeet Armias. Our interim executive producer is Courtney Dorney. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Sasha Pfeiffer.