Save Us, Supreme Daddies!

So:

BREAKING: The Trump administration's bid to end birthright citizenship has landed at SCOTUS. The government filed three emergency applications to allow it to implement President Trump's executive order after three lower courts blocked the move as likely unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment.

The "emergency” is because Trump is throwing a temper tantrum:

The DOJ takes note of the variety of similar lower-court rulings stymying Trump's agenda as a "serious threat to the Executive Branch’s authority"

The attack is on courts issuing nationwide injunctions (that they don’t like):

BREAKING: DOJ takes Trump's effort to end birthright citizenship to SCOTUS, asking the justices to limit three existing nationwide injunctions to the plaintiffs in the cases — a move that would allow the admin to start implementing an EO that several courts have said is plainly unconstitutional.

As Professor Vladeck points out, it doesn’t actually work that way:

As Chris notes, the Trump administration is trying to thread the needle—asking #SCOTUS to put the birthright citizenship EO back into effect *except* as applied to the non-state plaintiffs in these three cases. If/assuming they can’t win on the merits, they’re trying to narrow the effects of a loss.

Note that DOJ has filed appeals requesting stays of enforcement in the First Amendment, Fourth, and Ninth  circuits. All three were denied. So DOJ is definitely trying to cut their losses. But their argument is, only people in those circuits should retain birthright citizenship, if anybody does. Which actually makes their argument weaker. IMHLO, anyway.*

Is that likely to get the government anywhere?  No.

I understand the arguments against universal injunctions, however shamelessly hypocritical they may be.

But given that the Court has already rejected *multiple* invitations to rein them in in less-fraught contexts, the notion that there would somehow be five votes to do so here is ... fanciful.

Not only because of that, but because of how they want to slice up constitutional rights based on geography. I like to think even Thomas and Alito would have a problem with this. But I don’t really believe they would. They always sink below my lowest expectations.

*The 14th Amendment extended the Bill of Rights to state courts. Now it will be used to remove its own provisions from most states? Based on an accident of geography and where challenges were filed? Sure, that’ll work….