By Mark Sherman
The Supreme Court announced Monday that it is postponing arguments for late March and early April because of the coronavirus, including fights over subpoenas for President Donald Trump’s financial records.
Other business will go on as planned, including the justices' private conference on Friday and the release of orders in a week's time. Some justices may participate by telephone, the court said in a statement.
Six of the nine justices are 65 and older, at higher risk of getting very sick from the illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 87, and Stephen Breyer, 81, are the oldest members of the court.
There is no new date set for the postponed arguments. the building has been closed to the public since last week.
The only other time the 85-year-old court building was closed for arguments was in October 2001, when anthrax was detected in the court mailroom. That led the justices to hold arguments in the federal courthouse about a half mile from the Supreme Court,
Within a week and after a thorough cleaning, the court reopened.
In 1918, when the court still met inside the Capitol, arguments were postponed for a month because of the flu pandemic. In the nation's early years, in August 1793 and August 1798, adjustments were made because of yellow fever outbreaks, the court said.
Multiple women suing the State of Texas over its abortion law took the stand on Wednesday and gave emotional testimony about their experiences.
Border Patrol does not have protocols for assessing medical needs of children with preexisting conditions, according to an independent report made public Tuesday on the death of an 8-year-old girl from Panama who was in federal custody.
For the fourth time in a matter of weeks, a bus carrying migrants from Texas arrived in Los Angeles late Tuesday night.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s second-in-command has quietly stepped down amid reporting by The Associated Press that he once consulted for a pharmaceutical distributor sanctioned for a deluge of suspicious painkiller shipments and did similar work for the drugmaker that became the face of the opioid epidemic: Purdue Pharma.
The Biden administration on Wednesday proposed new guidelines for corporate mergers, took steps to disclose the junk fees charged by landlords and launched a crackdown on price-gouging in the food industry.
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger made a secret trip to China to meet with leaders.
Travis King, a private 2nd Class U.S. soldier, was identified as the individual that crossed the North and South Korean border earlier this week.
Several civil rights groups are suing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over his new immigration laws.
A judge in Iowa temporarily blocked the state's six-week abortion ban.
A U.S. national is being held in North Korea after crossing its closely-guarded border with South Korea.
