“Friday is the final day of the Supreme Court’s term — and it will be a big one,” the Washington Post reports.

“They are slated to release six opinions, including decisions that will deal with nationwide injunctions on President Donald Trump’s ban on birthright citizenship, whether parents can opt their children out of school lessons involving LGBTQ books, and a Texas law that requires age verification to view online porn.”

“Federal judges are retiring at a historically slow pace at the onset of President Donald Trump’s second term, most strikingly among those appointed by his Republican predecessors,” Bloomberg Law reports.

“Few of the roughly 70 Republican-appointed judges eligible to take a form of partial retirement or completely step down from the bench as of June 1 have done so, denying Trump the chance to pick their replacement.”

“The lack of new vacancies is thwarting Trump’s plans to continue replacing an older and more moderate generation of Republican-appointees with younger and even more conservative jurists.”

“Former Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy warned Thursday that acrimonious political discourse and threats to judges are eroding the ability of the United States to serve as an example of democracy worldwide,” Politico reports.

Said Kennedy: “Many in the rest of the world look to the United States to see what democracy is, to see what democracy ought to be. If they see a hostile, fractious discourse, if they see a discourse that uses identity politics rather than to talk about issues, democracy is at risk. Freedom is at risk.”

“The Supreme Court will hand down its final decisions of the term on Friday, including an expected high-profile ruling on whether President Donald Trump may enforce his divisive executive order curtailing birthright citizenship,” CNN reports.

“As is tradition, Chief Justice John Roberts announced the final day from the bench.”

“The schedule sets up a blockbuster last day at the Supreme Court in which the justices will hand down six opinions in some of the biggest cases of the year, including those dealing with Trump’s birthright citizenship order, a challenge from religious parents who want to opt their children out of reading LGBTQ books in school and a First Amendment suit over a Texas law that requires people to verify their age before accessing porn online.”

Associated Press: Supreme Court’s final opinions of the term are coming Friday.

“The Justice Department sued all 15 federal district court judges in Maryland on Tuesday over an order that pauses any deportations under legal challenge in the state for 48 hours,” the Washington Post reports.

“Legal experts described the move as an unprecedented attack on judicial independence, while government lawyers said it was necessary to preserve President Donald Trump’s constitutional authority over immigration.”

Emil Bove, who has been nominated for a federal judgeship, suggested to colleagues that the administration would defy court orders in order to carry out President Trump’s aggressive plan for mass deportations, Politico reports.

“The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for the Trump administration to swiftly deport foreigners to countries where they have no previous ties,” Politico reports.

“The justices lifted an order from a federal judge in Boston who had placed restrictions on the deportations to those countries. U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy had issued a nationwide injunction that required the administration to give immigrants “meaningful” advance notice and a chance to raise objections before they are sent to so-called third countries — nations not specified in their original deportation orders. But the Supreme Court granted the Trump administration’s emergency request to put Murphy’s injunction on hold.”

“The Supreme Court said on Friday that it would not fast-track a petition from two toy manufacturers challenging a major piece of President Trump’s tariffs program,” the New York Times reports.

“The court’s order was one sentence long and gave no reasons.”

“A federal appeals court on Thursday night allowed President Trump to maintain command of the California National Guard in response to the Los Angeles protests, blocking a lower court that ordered him to return those forces to the state’s control,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Politico: Appeals court blocks Newsom’s bid to reclaim control of National Guard from Trump.

“The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors, a stunning setback to transgender rights,” the AP reports.

“The justices’ 6-3 decision in a case from Tennessee effectively protects from legal challenges many efforts by President Donald Trump’s Republican administration and state governments to roll back protections for transgender people. Another 26 states have laws similar to the one in Tennessee.”

New York Times: “Her influence — measured by how often she is on the winning side — is rising. … Overall, her assumption of the seat once held by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has moved the court’s outcomes dramatically to the right and locked in conservative victories on gun rights, affirmative action and the power of federal agencies.”

“But in Trump-related disputes, she is the member of the supermajority who has sided with him the least. That position is making her the focus of animus, hope and debate. In interviews, some liberals who considered the court lost when she was appointed have used phrases like, ‘It’s all on Amy.’”

“As the Supreme Court bears down on the most contentious stretch of its annual session, the justices have been taking detours in opinions that reveal policy preferences and simmering grievances,” CNN reports.

“The Supreme Court on Friday let members of the Department of Government Efficiency, formed by Elon Musk, have access to sensitive records of the Social Security Administration,” the New York Times reports.

“The court’s order was brief and unsigned, which is typical when the justices rule on emergency applications.”

Washington Post: “Taken together, the orders were another example of the Supreme Court granting the Trump administration’s emergency requests to lift or scale back lower court rulings blocking his initiatives while legal challenges play out.”

“The Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously ruled in favor of a straight woman who twice lost positions to gay workers, saying an appeals court had been wrong to require her to meet a heightened burden in seeking to prove workplace discrimination because she was a member of a majority group,” the New York Times reports.

Washington Post: “The justices unanimously struck down a standard used in nearly half the nation’s federal circuits that required people who are White, male or not gay to meet a higher bar to prove workplace bias in certain cases than do individuals whose minority communities have traditionally faced discrimination.”

Lisa Rubin: “In an era where fidelity to the whims of Trump is far more important than allegiance to any conservative legal agenda, much less the rule of law, Trump aims to be the sole arbiter of who’s qualified and fit for federal judgeships.”

“If Trump can reduce or even eliminate both the ABA’s and the Federalist Society’s impact on the judicial selection process, he’ll become the only judge of judges who matters — which is exactly, I would posit, how he wants it.”