Rob McKenna: Supreme Court’s biggest rulings on birthright citizenship, presidential power coming soon

Former Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna said the U.S. Supreme Court is holding its most consequential decisions for the closing days of its term, with major rulings on birthright citizenship and presidential power expected as soon as Thursday.

McKenna told “Seattle’s Morning News” the decisions released this week were largely minor, leaving the biggest questions unanswered.

“There were half a dozen that came out, but frankly, they were all pretty narrow and technical, so I didn’t see anything that was really worth commenting on today,” McKenna said. “But we have some big ones coming out, apparently on Thursday. Some of the biggest decisions of the year.”

Among those, McKenna said, is a closely watched case testing the president’s authority to remove leaders of certain federal agencies.

“So apparently Thursday’s the big day, and yesterday was just the tease,” he said.

Former AG expects the court to save its ‘blockbuster’ decisions for last

McKenna said he expects the court to leave its most significant ruling — on birthright citizenship — for the very end of the term, though he cautioned the schedule remains uncertain.

“That’s one of the big ones that’s out there,” he said. “That might, in fact, be the last decision they issue. They tend to leave the blockbuster decisions for the very end, but I don’t know for certain that this Thursday is the last day they’re going to release decisions. They might release some next week as well.”

While the birthright citizenship case has drawn the most attention, McKenna said the dispute over presidential removal power could prove just as important.

“That birthright citizenship case, it’s sort of the eclipse blotting out the sun as far as its historic importance,” he said. “But I do think that these cases about the president’s authority to fire people from certain agencies is really critical, because I’ve been worried for a long time that the executive branch is becoming too powerful.”

Cases test whether Congress can limit the president’s power to fire

McKenna said the cases test whether Congress can place limits on the president’s removal authority.

“These cases test the authority of Congress to put limits on the president’s power to fire people,” he said. “We’ll have to see if the court upholds those limits or upholds the president’s power that has been steadily expanding over the last several decades.”

On birthright citizenship, McKenna said the justices appeared skeptical of the administration’s position during oral arguments.

“It looks like the president’s attempt to end birthright citizenship is going to lose at the court,” he said. “It could be a five-four decision, but I think it looked like, at the time, it would be more like six to three, or maybe even more lopsided than that.”

Manda Factor is the host of “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio. Follow Manda on X and email her here. 

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