Mennonite Plaintiffs Ask D.C. Circuit to Shorten DHS's Rehearing Deadline to Nov. 19 and Issue the Mandate Right After; Government Opposes

On October 23, 2026, days after the D.C. Circuit reversed the denial of their preliminary injunction, the plaintiffs in Mennonite Church USA v. DHS moved to speed up what happens next. Under the federal appellate rules, the government has 45 days from entry of judgment to seek rehearing. The plaintiffs ask the court to cut that to 30 days (November 19) and, if no petition comes by then, to issue the mandate immediately after. The court’s clerk’s order otherwise withholds the mandate until seven days after any rehearing petition is resolved.

The motion says the government’s counsel told plaintiffs’ counsel the government opposes it. The motion was pending as of the October 23 docket entry; no ruling on it appears in the RECAP copy of the docket.