By 11 PM EDT, Tonight -- The Supremes Will Likely Weigh In To Take The Doughty Nonsense Off The Table...

Somehow, the Fifth Circuit managed to enter an order that both contradicted its prior decision on the merits, and effectively contradicted its own immediate mandate, on the decision. That mandate made it immediately appealable to the Supremes, which the federal government did. . . within a day.

The Supremes have now twice delayed a decision on taking the case, as the nine needed until 5 pm tonight to finish conferring on the matter (it seemed). [This all deeply impacts how Elon Musk might run X (formerly known as Twitter) in the future -- as well as FB, Instagram, TikTok, Tangerine's ironically named Truthsocial.com, Gab.com and even goofy Parler.]

Overnight, the State of Louisiana filed papers in the Fifth Cir. it marked as viewable only by counsel in the case. These papers are filed publicly, though -- in the Supremes, per long standing black letter federal law. From those, here is how the US Solicitor General describes where we are, in the ball of tangled string the Fifth Cir. made of it all:

. . .Given the current posture of the case, the unreasoned nature of the Fifth Circuit’s order, and the uncertainty about that order’s intended effect, the government will not develop at length its additional arguments explaining why any extension of the injunction to cover the CISA and State Department defendants, or to reach activities related to the Election Integrity Project or related entities, would be unwarranted and improper -- as the Fifth Circuit itself previously held, see Appl. App. 238a. The government is of course prepared to submit further briefing on those issues if the Court requests it. . . .

The Fifth Circuit’s unexplained grant of panel rehearing does not purport to modify its prior judgment; the court lacked authority to modify its judgment without recalling its mandate; and the issues decided in that judgment continue to warrant this Court’s review. Whether or not the Court grants certiorari immediately, however, the government respectfully submits that the irregularity of and additional uncertainty caused by this most recent development provide powerful additional reasons to stay the district court’s preliminary injunction in its entirety. . . .

As I say, we expect clarity from the Supremes by tonight, by written order. Onward, grinning at the lunacy from some (far right) corners of the Fifth.

नमस्ते