Don't forget, this vote was only to grant certiorari - nothing was decided, they'll hear the case in the next term. It's a 90-day ban, and they have more than 90 days before SCOTUS will actually hear the case. Written into the order is instructions from SCOTUS that both sides must be ready to brief on whether the case is moot at that point since the 90 days will have expired. If it's moot, SCOTUS has nothing to review and nothing to decide.
Plaintiffs argued that the case was already moot because the original 90 days had expired, but SCOTUS is resetting the clock - once. So that gives the administration about 240 days to do something they said they would do in 90. What's the point of reviewing this issue if they weren't doing anything about it in the first place? Best guess - Trump hates to lose at anything. He doesn't really care about "extreme vetting" (which we already have), he just wants a win. |
