The Supreme Court wrapped up its final oral arguments of the term this week, and the justices will now turn their attention to the nearly three dozen cases for which they still have to issue rulings by July.
The high court’s 2025 to 2026 term reached a key milestone on Wednesday after the justices finished hearing arguments in the 58 cases it took up for this term, less than seven months after their first oral arguments of the term on Oct. 6. The Supreme Court is expected to finish issuing rulings by the end of June or beginning of July, and it has 35 cases still awaiting opinions. The outstanding cases include a number of hotly contested legal battles.
Court still sitting on birthright citizenship, women’s sports, and late-arriving ballot rulings
Among the dozens of pending cases the Supreme Court has yet to rule on are closely watched legal battles involving President Donald Trump’s birthright citizenship order and a pair of cases over state laws barring biological men from women’s sports.
Of the remaining cases, three were argued in November, four were argued in December, five were argued in January, three were argued in February, 10 were argued in March, and the remaining 10 in April. The high court announced the final opinions of the 2024-25 term on June 27, 2025, while the final opinions of the 2023-24 term were announced on July 1, 2024. The final scheduled non-argument session for this term is June 25, but the high court can, and typically does, schedule additional sittings at the last minute.
The key Trump cases that remain outstanding are the challenge over his birthright citizenship, Trump v. Barbara; his bid to fire independent agency heads, Trump v. Slaughter; an attempt to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook for cause, Trump v. Cook; and his bids to end Temporary Protected Status for people from Haiti and Syria, Mullin v. Doe and Trump v. Moit.
While the Supreme Court appeared skeptical of the Justice Department’s side during oral arguments in the Barbara and Cook cases, a majority of the panel appeared open to the DOJ’s arguments in the Slaughter and TPS cases.
Other high-profile outstanding cases include two that could shake up the looming November midterm elections. In NRSC v. FEC, the high court will either uphold or strike down Federal Election Commission regulations limiting coordination between political parties and candidates, potentially flooding the approaching elections with additional campaign money. The other outstanding election case, Watson v. RNC, will either uphold or strike down state laws that allow ballots received days after election day, but postmarked by the respective election day, to be counted.
A pair of gun cases is also still pending at the high court, including Wolford v. Lopez, which deals with Hawaii’s law banning handgun owners who have a concealed carry permit from bringing their weapon onto private property unless the owner or manager has given the person “express authorization to carry a firearm on the property.” The justices appeared skeptical of the Hawaii law, and they also appeared skeptical of the legality of a federal law banning illegal drug users from possessing firearms, in the case United States v. Hemani.
Two of the most closely watched cases involve the intersection of women’s rights and LGBT policies in sports with Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. B.P.J. Both cases are challenges of state laws in Idaho and West Virginia, respectively, banning biological men from competing in women’s sports, and whether those laws are in accordance with the 14th Amendment and Title IX.
Tariffs, redistricting, and free speech among blockbuster released opinions
The Supreme Court has issued 23 decisions this term so far, and not all of them have been favorable to Trump, particularly the Feb. 20 decision to strike down Trump’s sweeping tariffs by a 6-3 vote.
The high court’s other notable rulings so far include handing a counselor a win over Colorado’s misleadingly titled “conversion therapy” ban, which they found unlawfully restricted her speech, in Chiles v. Salazar, and allowing a crisis pregnancy center to challenge New Jersey’s subpoena seeking their donor lists in federal court, in First Choice v. Davenport.
The Supreme Court also released an opinion in one of its most closely watched cases this week with a ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, where it limited the scope of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act for redistricting, giving significantly more freedom for legislatures to redraw congressional maps without prioritizing racial outcomes.
Out of the 23 rulings released by the Supreme Court, 15 have been unanimous, including 14 rulings that were 9-0 and one ruling that was 8-0. There have been two 8-1 rulings, one 7-2 ruling, three 6-3 rulings, and two 5-4 rulings, among the released opinions so far.
SUPREME COURT’S LOUISIANA REDISTRICTING RULING POISED TO WIPE OUT HOUSE DEMOCRATS IN THE SOUTH
The Supreme Court’s current term is set to conclude officially at the end of September, although the high court typically does not do anything notable, besides emergency docket orders, in July, August, or September.
The next Supreme Court term will officially open with arguments on Oct. 5, with oral arguments in at least one case. The high court has already announced eight cases it will take up for its next term and is set to announce additional cases it will take up for the forthcoming term in the coming weeks.