SCOTUS Long Conference, SAVE Voter Database Stay, Missouri Map Blocked Again & AI Tax Probe: Week of Sep 28

Better Call Claude Briefing — Week of Sep 28, 2026

The Supreme Court’s “long conference” opens the 2026–27 term today, the justices cleared a modified SAVE voter-verification database last Friday, Missouri’s 2025 congressional map was blocked a third time for the midterms, and Senate Democrats launched a probe of Big Tech AI tax subsidies. General news roundup only — not legal advice.

Long conference opens the 2026–27 term

The justices meet today for the annual “long conference,” the closed-door session that sifts the summer’s backlog of certiorari petitions before the new term’s formal start. Oral arguments are scheduled to begin October 5. The same day also brings a high-stakes emergency-docket deadline: plaintiffs’ response is due by 4 p.m. EDT on the Trump administration’s third bid to revive third-country removals after the First Circuit largely upheld Judge Brian Murphy’s notice-and-opportunity requirements in DHS v. D.V.D. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is handling the application as circuit Justice. Court-watchers expect the long conference to tee up several election-law and executive-power fights that could define the term’s early months.

Sources: SCOTUSblog (long conference), SCOTUSblog (third-country removals), Courthouse News, Democracy Docket

SCOTUS clears modified SAVE voter database

In an unsigned 6–3 stay issued Friday in DHS v. League of Women Voters, No. 26A308, the Supreme Court paused D.C. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan’s order that had blocked DHS and the Social Security Administration from expanding the SAVE system for bulk searches and Social Security number linkage used in citizenship checks after Trump Executive Order 14248. The majority said the challengers have standing but are unlikely to prevail on the merits, reasoning that 1996 immigration law authorizes DHS to obtain citizenship information from SSA. It added that the National Voter Registration Act’s 90-day purge ban limits near-term mass removals from the rolls while still allowing individualized inquiries. Justice Jackson, joined by Justices Sotomayor and Kagan, dissented, calling the stay a “questionable interim” reading of never-interpreted statutes and arguing the Court weighed government harm over risks to lawful voters.

Sources: SCOTUSblog, NBC News, CNBC, CREW (26A308 PDF)

Missouri map blocked a third time

Also Friday, a unanimous unsigned stay in People Not Politicians v. Onder, No. 26A388, again kept Missouri’s 2025 gerrymandered congressional map off the 2026 ballot. The Court held that the state’s 2022 map must be used for the midterms as a matter of state law after the Missouri Supreme Court concluded HB1 never took effect while a referendum challenge was pending. The stay halted Eighth Circuit and Judge Stephen Clark orders that would have forced the 2025 map into use mid-cycle. The justices pointed to the risk of “electoral chaos” if maps switched after absentee voting had already begun. It is the third time the Court has declined to let Missouri deploy the newer map for this cycle.

Sources: SCOTUSblog, Missouri Independent, Boston Globe

Warren-led Senate Dems probe Big Tech AI tax subsidies

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and fellow Democrats sent letters Sunday night — reported Monday — to the CEOs of Meta, Google/Alphabet, Amazon, and Microsoft seeking details on tax deductions for AI and data-center spending authorized under the 2025 “one big beautiful bill,” plus related lobbying. Sens. Tina Smith, Jeff Merkley, Elissa Slotkin, Bernie Sanders, and Richard Blumenthal joined the letters; answers are due by October 12. The lawmakers cited Meta’s federal income tax drop from $9.6 billion in 2024 to $2.8 billion in 2025 on roughly similar profits, falling corporate tax receipts amid rising revenue, and AI as a midterm flashpoint. Spokespeople for the four companies and the White House did not immediately comment.

Sources: CNBC

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This Briefing is general news for Better Call Claude readers. It is not legal advice, and nothing here creates an attorney-client relationship. Check primary sources and talk to a licensed lawyer about your situation.