Supreme Court Rulings: DOGE Access, Title VII Standard, and New Docket Cases

Hello and welcome to the SCOTUS News Tracker podcast. Here’s the latest from the US Supreme Court.

On Friday, the Supreme Court handed down significant decisions in two cases related to the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which was created by an executive order from President Donald Trump on the first day of his second term. The court allowed DOGE to access records from the Social Security Administration, despite objections from labor unions and a grassroots advocacy group that argued this move compromised the privacy of personal data for millions of Americans. Additionally, the court temporarily paused a federal judge's order that required DOGE to provide information in a lawsuit filed under the Freedom of Information Act, sending the dispute back to a federal appeals court for further review.

In another notable decision, the Supreme Court ruled on June 5th in the case of Ames v. Ohio Dept. of Youth Servs., where they rejected the "background circumstances" rule. This rule had imposed a heightened evidentiary standard on majority-group plaintiffs in Title VII cases. The court determined that Title VII does not require such a heightened standard, vacating the lower court's judgment and remanding the case for application of the proper prima facie standard.

On the same day, the Supreme Court also added four new cases to its docket for the 2025-26 term. These cases involve a range of issues, including capital punishment, among others.

The Supreme Court Building remains open to the public from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., with Courtroom Lectures available for those interested.

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This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI