Supreme Court Justices Jackson and Kavanaugh clash over handling of Trump cases

Source: NBC News

March 9, 2026, 7:46 PM EDT


WASHINGTON — Internal Supreme Court divisions over how the high court has frequently ruled in favor of the Trump administration in emergency situations spilled out into public Monday with liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh locking horns.

The court's conservative majority has on a regular basis blocked lower court rulings that have stymied President Donald Trump's agenda, sparking criticism from within and outside the judiciary.

Jackson, often a vocal dissenter in those cases, forcefully aired her critique of the court's actions in a rare public appearance with Kavanaugh at an event for lawyers and judges held at the federal courthouse in Washington. Bemoaning the recent increase in such emergency filings — requested to challenge lower court rulings — she suggested that the number of filings would drop if the court were stingier about granting them.

The procedure has become known as the “shadow docket” because the court rarely hears arguments and often issues terse decisions with little explanation. The Supreme Court decisions can allow policies to go into effect at early stages in legal challenges, long before lower courts have reached any definitive conclusions. The cases might then return to the Supreme Court later in the process, leading to final decisions on the merits.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-justices-jackson-kavanaugh-clash-handling-trump-cases-rcna262622