The Trump administration has failed to file a promised petition for rehearing at the Supreme Court after the 25-day deadline elapsed without any new docket activity.
President Donald Trump had publicly pledged to seek an immediate rehearing following the court’s June 30 ruling against his birthright citizenship restrictions.
In a July 8 post on Truth Social, Trump said he would “be asking for a Rehearing by the United States Supreme Court, IMMEDIATELY,” but no such filing materialised.
The Supreme Court voted 6-3 on June 30 to strike down Executive Order 14160, which sought to exclude children of undocumented immigrants and temporary visitors from automatic birthright citizenship.
The ruling was widely considered the most anticipated decision of the high court’s 2025-2026 term, representing a significant defeat for Trump on a signature policy issue.
Under Supreme Court Rule 44, parties have 25 days after an opinion is issued to seek rehearing, placing the original deadline on July 25, a Saturday.
Because that date fell on a weekend, the deadline shifted to the next court business day, which was Monday, July 27, and no filing appeared on the docket.
As of early evening on July 28, the Supreme Court’s electronic docket for Trump v. Barbara showed no rehearing petition or extension request filed by the federal government.
Neither the White House nor the Justice Department responded to multiple requests for comment on the missed deadline, leaving the administration’s intentions unclear.
Even if a petition had been filed, the chances of success would have been extremely slim, as the Supreme Court has not granted a rehearing petition since 1965, according to Georgetown University law professor Steve Vladeck.
The bar for a successful rehearing petition is exceptionally high, requiring at least one justice who ruled against Trump to reverse their position, with a majority of the court then agreeing to reconsider.
Trump had made his interest in the case highly visible in April, attending oral arguments in person and becoming the first sitting president to do so in the court’s history.
The administration’s failure to follow through on Trump’s public promise marks a notable moment in what has been one of the most legally consequential battles of his presidency.