Tonight Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg granted the federal government’s request to put off the depositions of two high-level Trump administration officials, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and John Gore, the acting head of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. Gore’s deposition had been scheduled for tomorrow morning, and Ross’ for Thursday, in a challenge to Ross’ decision to bring back a question about citizenship on the 2020 census. (More details on the challenge and the issues involved can be found in an earlier post.)

Tonight was the second time in less than a week that the government had come to the Supreme Court seeking relief from a federal district court’s order in the case. On October 5, Ginsburg – who handles emergency appeals from New York, where the case originated – denied a similar request by the government to block the orders allowing the depositions to go forward, but she left open the possibility that, if necessary, the government could return to the Supreme Court before the depositions were taken. That is what happened tonight, after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit rejected the government’s request to put the depositions on hold.

Ginsburg directed the challengers to respond to the government’s request by 4 p.m. on Thursday, October 11. Her order will remain in effect until either she or the full Supreme Court acts on the request.

This post was also published on SCOTUSblog.