Supreme Court Removes Trump Travel Ban Case from Schedule

The court drops an oral argument about the legality of Trump’s outgoing travel ban as new restrictions are announced

The Supreme Court is dropping for now an oral argument about the legality of President Donald Trump’s outgoing travel ban, a signal the justices may want to avoid deciding the case in light of new travel restrictions the White House unveiled Sunday.

The high court had been preparing to review Mr. Trump’s March 6 executive order restricting travel to the U.S. by people from six Muslim-majority countries. But much of that ban expired Sunday, and the White House is replacing it with a more-targeted policy that focuses on nationals from eight countries, including non-Muslim nations North Korea and Venezuela.

The high court had been scheduled to take up the case Oct. 10. In a one-paragraph order Monday, the court removed the case from the calendar and ordered both sides in the litigation to file new legal papers by Oct. 5 addressing whether the case is moot in light of Mr. Trump’s new travel rules.

Critics of the travel ban say it improperly disfavored members of a particular religious group. The White House disputes that and said it was necessary to fight terrorism.

Litigation over the new travel restrictions is a near-certainty. Those cases likely will have to start back at square one, with proceedings taking place first at the trial-court level.

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