Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Limit Courts' Power to Vacate Agency Rules Universally

The Trump administration came to the Supreme Court on Oct. 14, asking the justices to review an appeals court decision on universal vacatur of agency rules. In a 29-page filing, Solicitor General D. John Sauer urged the court to set limits on federal courts’ authority, arguing that nothing in the Administrative Procedure Act “suggests that the statute vests courts with that ’new and far-reaching remedial power.’” The petition points to the Court’s 2025 decision in Trump v. CASA, in which the justices held that federal courts do not have the authority to enter so-called universal or nationwide injunctions, and argues that the effect of the appeals court’s decision is that regulations are “erased from the books as to everyone”. The challengers’ response is currently due on Nov. 13, although that deadline may be extended. No cert grant has issued.

Vacatur is the remedy that survived 2025-06-27–supreme-court-restricts-nationwide-injunctions-trump-v-casa’s limit on nationwide injunctions; the petition asks the Court to close that route too. The direction matters: this is a petition, not a ruling, and the effect on wholesale challenges to agency action, including the election-related rules litigated this fall (see 2026-09-14–scotus-blocks-trump-mail-ballot-eo-7-2-kavanaugh-timing-midterms), depends on whether the Court takes the case.