Pursuing Power Without Process: Understanding the Rise of the Supreme Court's Shadow Docket with Professor Steve Vladeck

The Supreme Court has increasingly relied on the fast-tracked shadow docket—also referred to as the emergency docket or interim docket—to issue emergency decisions. Decisions issued from the shadow docket bypass the extensive briefing and oral arguments of the merits docket. The Court's orders are normally short and do not contain an explanation of the justice’s reasoning, yet the Court has been using the shadow docket to decide consequential issues, including immigration enforcement, funding and appropriations, federal workforce protection, transgender rights, redistricting, and executive power.

In its first few months in power, the second Trump administration has made as many applications to the Court's shadow docket as the Biden administration made over its entire 4 years. In comparison, the Obama and Bush administrations combined made only 8 requests over 16 years. 

Since January 20, 2025, the Court has issued 25 decisions on its shadow docket concerning actions by the second Trump administration. Of the 25 decisions, the Court has issued 20 decisions finding, at least partially, for the Trump Administration and 5 decisions against the Trump administration. 7 of these decisions were not accompanied by any written explanation whatsoever. 

The Court’s increased reliance on the shadow docket has led to increased confusion among the public and the lower federal courts. These emergency orders had previously not been considered valid precedent, but recent rulings have gone so far as to implicitly overrule longstanding precedent. The Court has explicitly called out district court judges, accusing them of failing to apply previous shadow docket orders in their decisions. 

Join Georgetown University Law Center Agnes Williams Sesquicentennial Professor of Federal Courts and New York Times-bestselling author of "The Shadow Docket: How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic" Stephen I. Vladeck for a discussion on the rise of the Court's shadow docket and the implications of this practice on our fundamental rights.

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