Leaked Memos Reveal Process Behind SCTOUS’ Block of Obama’s Signature Climate Policy

The Supreme Court’s 2016 emergency order blocking President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan came after sharp internal divisions among the justices, according to confidential memos obtained by The New York Times and published on April 18, 2026.

The documents, spanning roughly 16 pages from late January to early February 2016, provide a rare look inside the Court’s deliberations on its “shadow docket”—the emergency process that allows swift action with minimal public explanation. In a 5–4 vote along ideological lines, the justices halted the Obama-era Environmental Protection Agency regulation before lower courts completed their review, marking what many legal scholars view as an early milestone in the Court’s increased use of expedited rulings on major executive actions.