The Daily Inside the Five Days That Remade the Supreme Court
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Apr 20, 2026 
Adam Liptak, The New York Times’ top Supreme Court reporter, and Jodi Kantor, an investigative journalist on power and institutions, unpack the five-day chain reaction that transformed the court’s secretive shadow docket. They trace leaked justice memos, the Clean Power Plan fight, John Roberts’s push for fast intervention, and Anthony Kennedy’s pivotal note.
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Why Shadow Docket Orders Matter So Much
- Adam Liptak says the shadow docket skips full briefing, argument, deliberation, and detailed opinions, yet still shapes national policy.
- Though nominally temporary, orders allowing deportations, aid cuts, or firings often become practically irreversible before merits review ends.
The Unprecedented Bid To Stop Obama's Climate Plan
- The fight began when states and industry asked the Supreme Court to freeze Obama's Clean Power Plan before any lower court ruled on its legality.
- Jodi Kantor says the unusual request hit an ideologically split 5-4 court where Anthony Kennedy remained a genuinely persuadable swing vote.
Roberts Pushed Hard To Freeze The Plan
- John Roberts opened the private debate by urging colleagues to halt the Clean Power Plan immediately.
- He cited burdens on states and coal, the major questions doctrine, and EPA's earlier mercury-rule end run that left him feeling the court had been outmaneuvered.