Apr 20, 2026 · 35 min
How a five-day dispute birthed the Supreme Court shadow docket
Inside the Five Days That Remade the Supreme Court
The rise of the shadow docket allows the Supreme Court to make sweeping policy decisions while bypassing the traditional public scrutiny of oral arguments.
- 1A 2016 dispute over President Obama's Clean Power Plan triggered the rise of the secretive shadow docket.
- 2The Supreme Court increasingly uses emergency orders to issue major national rulings without full briefings.
- 3Internal judicial grievances and procedural shifts fundamentally altered how the nation's highest court operates.
Don't miss
The reconstruction of the critical five-day window in 2016 that bypassed traditional judicial procedures.
The brief
A pivotal five-day period in 2016 reshaped the Supreme Court, laying the groundwork for the shadow docket to become a primary vehicle for major, secretive national rulings.
Reporters Jodi Kantor and Adam Liptak trace this shift back to internal judicial grievances and a high-stakes battle over President Barack Obama's Clean Power Plan.
The investigation reveals how a system originally meant for emergencies became a routine tool to issue sweeping decisions without public hearings or full briefings.
By bypassing traditional oral arguments, the court fundamentally altered its decision-making process, shielding its inner workings from public scrutiny.
Featuring
Jodi Kantor
Adam LiptakMentioned
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