Court Watch with Alex Swoyer
The 'Court Watch' podcast with Washington Times legal affairs reporter Alex Swoyer breaks down the Supreme Court's major cases and top news stories about the justices, federal courts and perplexing legal battles with key insight from court watchers from both sides of the aisle.
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Recent Stories
Supreme Court casts doubt on Trump's firing of Fed Governor Lisa Cook
The Supreme Court expressed worry over President Trump's firing of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, suggesting Wednesday that the move undermines the independence of the central bank and would invite retaliation by future presidents.
Supreme Court skeptical of Hawaii's law restricting gun carrying on private properties
Gun control advocates went to the Supreme Court on Tuesday to defend Hawaii's law limiting the right to carry firearms on some private property, and found themselves in the uncomfortable position of justifying it by citing a racist Civil War-era law aimed at curtailing formerly enslaved people's gun rights.
National Catholic Prayer Breakfast looks to J.D. Vance for keynote
Vice President J.D. Vance will be the keynote speaker at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in March, "Seen, Heard & Whispered" has learned.
Supreme Court declines to hear challenges to ban on felons possessing guns
The Supreme Court shunted aside several gun rights cases Tuesday that tested the limits of the federal law that bans felons from possessing firearms.
AP Source: Fed Chair Powell to attend Supreme Court argument on Cook case
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will attend the Supreme Court's oral argument Wednesday in a case involving the attempted firing of Fed governor Lisa Cook, an unusual show of support by the central bank chair.
Fueled by pills, the rate of abortions nationwide keeps rising after Supreme Court's Dobbs decision
The number of abortions reported nationwide has grown steadily since the Supreme Court returned jurisdiction of the procedure to the states, driven by a surge in mail-order pills.
The bizarre world of Ketanji Brown Jackson
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard the cases of Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. B.P.J.
Women's sports activists celebrate after Supreme Court oral arguments
Hours after the Supreme Court heard arguments on state laws restricting transgender athletes from women's sports, many of those involved headed over to the Mellon Auditorium to celebrate the Women's Sports Gala.
WATCH: West Virginia AG on state's transgender sports ban now before Supreme Court
The justices heard oral arguments Tuesday over his state law that bans transgender athletes from competing in biological girls' sports. The case came before the court after a transgender girl challenged the state law, arguing it violated the constitutional Equal Protection Clause and Title IX.
Supreme Court revives GOP congressman's challenge to late-arriving mail ballot law
The Supreme Court on Wednesday revived a Republican challenge to a law that allows the counting of late-arriving mail ballots, a target of President Donald Trump.
Men do not belong in women's sports, period
In 2015, the Supreme Court declared that the 14th Amendment requires every state to grant same-sex marriages identical recognition to those of opposite-sex couples.
Supreme Court allows challenge to Illinois mail-in ballot law on counting votes after Election Day
The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that federal candidates can challenge state laws that allow mail-in ballots to be counted past Election Day.
Dueling rallies on transgender-athlete laws draw hundreds to Supreme Court
The Supreme Court hearing on the transgender-athlete issue drew hundreds of high-spirited activists as well as lawmakers to competing rallies Tuesday on the courthouse steps.
Supreme Court open to transgender sports bans, but some justices are grappling with issue for states
Republican-led states asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to uphold their laws that generally bar biological males from female sports, saying women and girls deserve leagues of their own.
Supreme Court takes up culture war battle over transgender athletes in school sports
The Supreme Court is hearing arguments Tuesday over state laws barring transgender girls and women from playing on school athletic teams.
ACLU unveils ad campaign starring Rapinoe, Page, Watts in support of trans athletes
A bevy of left-wing celebrities have launched an ad campaign in support of transgender athletes as the Supreme Court considers state laws in Idaho and West Virginia barring biological males from female sports.
Supreme Court grapples with Big Oil's request to hear Louisiana coastal damage case in federal court
The Supreme Court grappled Monday with whether fossil fuel companies who provided oil to the federal government can force climate change-related lawsuits out of state courts and into more friendly U.S. courts.
'We know we're right': Defenders of female athletes optimistic ahead of Supreme Court hearing
Advocates for single-sex sports like their chances ahead of oral argument Tuesday on the Idaho and West Virginia bans on transgender athletes in female scholastic sports, given the high court's 6-3 conservative majority and the strength of their legal arguments.
NCAA convention collides with Supreme Court fight over women's sports
Women's sports are about to take center stage in Washington.
Basketball-playing legislator Barbara Ehardt sees her women's sports law go before Supreme Court
Barbara Ehardt will be watching on Tuesday when the Supreme Court hears oral arguments on state laws that bar transgender athletes from competing in female sports.
Transgender teen athlete in a Supreme Court fight knows the upcoming sports season could be her last
Becky Pepper-Jackson finished third in the discus throw in West Virginia last year though she was in just her first year of high school. Now a 15-year-old sophomore, Pepper-Jackson is aware that her upcoming season could be her last.
WATCH: Supreme Court to weigh battle between oil companies and Louisiana coastline erosion
The Supreme Court next week will wade into a thorny energy debate as it takes up a lawsuit filed by a Louisiana parish against oil companies the locality says have eroded its coastline through decades of fossil fuel activities.
Abortion stays legal in Wyoming as its top court strikes down laws, including first U.S. pill ban
Abortion will remain legal in Wyoming after the state Supreme Court struck down laws that include the country's first explicit ban on abortion pills, ruling Tuesday that they violate the state constitution.
Ex-CIA Director John Brennan is 'target' of federal investigation, his lawyer says
Former CIA Director John O. Brennan has received a letter notifying him that he is the target of a federal grand jury investigation in Miami, his attorney said.
Judge rules against Trump's attempt to remove security clearance of whistleblower attorney
A federal judge in Washington has ruled against President Trump's attempt to cancel a security clearance for an attorney who represents whistleblowers.
Taxpayer group tells Supreme Court that excessive fines to settle debt are unconstitutional
The National Taxpayers Union Foundation has filed a friend-of-the-court brief at the Supreme Court defending citizens' rights not to suffer excessive tax fines.
Female college athlete defends Idaho ban on transgender athletes at Supreme Court
When cross-country runner Madison Kenyon entered college at Idaho State University, she says she didn't have much of an opinion about having to compete with transgender competitors.
Supreme Court rules against Trump on deploying troops to Chicago
The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that President Trump overstepped his powers in trying to federalize and send the National Guard to Chicago.
Non-dangerous felons shouldn't lose gun rights forever, appeals court says
A federal appeals court has overturned the gun conviction of a man who had failed to pay child support, saying that sort of crime shouldn't have cost him his gun rights for the rest of his life.
Supreme Court to take up Mississippi death row inmate's challenge over excluding Black jurors
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to take up a legal battle out of Mississippi in which a prosecutor is alleged to have excluded Black jurors in a trial to win a death sentence against an 18-year-old Black murder defendant.
Supreme Court showdown tests progressive's bureaucracy of independent 'experts'
The Supreme Court's decision on Rebecca Kelly Slaughter's FTC seat could preserve the century-old progressive model of government by unaccountable "experts."
Jack Smith launches law firm amid ethical shots from GOP lawmakers
Former special counsel Jack Smith will open a new law firm next month alongside fellow prosecutors who all probed President Trump and the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
U.S. prosecutors seek to abandon soccer TV rights corruption case
After a yearslong legal battle, U.S. prosecutors told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that they want to give up their fight to preserve the convictions of a former Fox executive and South American sports media company in a corruption case related to TV rights for international soccer tournaments.
Is IQ of 72 too low to dodge death penalty? Supreme Court wrestles with cutoff
The Supreme Court struggled Wednesday to determine when someone is too mentally disabled to be executed for crimes, with the justices pondering when IQ tests or more subjective yardsticks are sufficient methods to determine intellectual ability.
Supreme Court hears Alabama's appeal to execute a man found to be intellectually disabled
The Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday in a case that could make it harder for convicted murderers to show their lives should be spared because they are intellectually disabled.
Supreme Court grapples with limits on campaign spending by political party committees
Supreme Court justices grappled Tuesday with whether to topple another domino in campaign finance restrictions -- this one a limit on political party committees' ability to coordinate with individual candidates on how to spend money.
Senate report details 22 Americans caught in crosshairs of Trump's mass deportation sweep
A report from Senate Democrats accuses Homeland Security of sweeping Americans up in its push to deport illegal immigrants, including some detained for more than a day, seemingly in defiance of Supreme Court guidance this year.
Supreme Court weighs Republican appeal to end limits on party spending in federal elections
The Supreme Court is considering a Republican-led drive, backed by President Donald Trump's administration, to overturn a quarter-century-old decision and erase limits on how much political parties can spend in coordination with candidates for Congress and president.
Supreme Court delivers win to religious vaccine resisters
The Supreme Court on Monday erased a lower court ruling that had upheld New York's strict school vaccine rules that don't allow religious exemptions, telling the judges to reexamine the case with an eye toward parental rights.
Lawyer who peddled Steele dossier gets his moment before Supreme Court
The Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear from an architect of the Trump-Russia collusion hoax.
Alina Habba resigns as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey amid legal fight
Alina Habba resigned on Monday from her position as the acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey, ending the three-month legal battle over whether she was lawfully appointed to the position.
Supreme Court poised to grant Trump broader firing powers over independent agencies
The Supreme Court signaled Monday a readiness to upend a 90-year-old precedent and give presidents expansive powers to fire top officers at independent agencies.
The Supreme Court weighs Trump's bid to fire independent agency board members
The Trump administration's push to expand control over independent federal agencies comes before a sympathetic Supreme Court that could overturn a 90-year-old decision limiting when presidents can fire board members.
Chief Justice Roberts blocks ruling that threatened Trump personnel moves
Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has put a hold on a lower court ruling that had suggested judges could step in to hear cases where the normal machinery of the executive branch wasn't working.
'They are treasures': Trump praises Kennedy Center honorees at State Department dinner
President Trump on Saturday praised the recipients of the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors, presenting gold medallions bearing their names donated by Tiffany & Co. at the White House.
Trump strikes echo Obama's lethal legacy; drug boat war renews partisan split on counterterrorism
President Trump may be the alleged drug boat destroyer, but he has a long way to go before he tops the drone warrior.
Supreme Court agrees to hear Trump's birthright citizenship case
The Supreme Court said it will hear a case involving President Trump's attempt to rewrite the rules on birthright citizenship, adding a monumental battle over immigration and constitutional rights to its docket.
DOJ asks Supreme Court to intervene in immigration judge gag order case
The administration rushed to the Supreme Court on Friday, asking the justices to set aside a lower appeals court ruling that gave anti-Trump litigants a new avenue to challenge the president's personnel moves.
Most universities ignore Trump administration's ban on diversity-themed admission essays
Most universities are ignoring the Trump administration's insistence that diversity-themed essays in student applications violate the Supreme Court's prohibition on race-based admissions.
Supreme Court restores Texas' GOP-friendly congressional map
The Supreme Court said Thursday that Texas can go back to using its new, Republican-friendly congressional map for the 2026 midterm elections, putting on hold a lower court ruling that found the map to be an illegal attempt to strip minorities of voting power.
Supreme Court grapples with Christian proselytizer punished by city for loudspeaker
The Supreme Court heard the case on Wednesday of a prolific Christian preacher who wants to be able to challenge a Mississippi ordinance that he says limits his ability to proselytize.
