The Supreme Court's 2026 Term

The story so far

As of October 4, 2026

The Supreme Court opened its 2026–27 term Monday at 10 a.m. Eastern, with a lineup that reaches into climate policy, immigration enforcement, gun regulation, voting rules, and transgender rights. It is the second full term since President Trump returned to the White House, and renewed fights over his executive actions are back before the justices. Public approval of the Court sits at a record low, and concerns about the justices’ safety and even the Court’s future makeup now frame how this term is read.

The first arguments put climate litigation at center stage. Exxon and Suncor are asking the justices to shut down a case brought by Boulder, Colorado, that seeks money for climate harms. What the Court decides will signal whether cities and states can keep using state‑law claims to pursue compensation from oil companies, or whether those suits must be thrown out. Because dozens of similar cases are pending around the country, a ruling here will set the path for years of local climate damage claims.

Beyond climate, the term features cases that determine who gets to draw the lines on guns and immigration: Congress, states, presidents, or local governments. Those disputes are less about any single policy than about where legal authority sits and how far it runs. After a prior term filled with sweeping rulings, both supporters and challengers are testing how much more this Court is willing to reorder the balance among federal, state, and local power.

The immediate fact is simple: arguments are underway and new cases are still being added to the calendar. The stakes are institutional as much as legal. With approval at a low and the Court’s methods under scrutiny, how the justices write and how broadly they rule are now part of what these cases mean, not only who wins them.