August 10, 2026: Ninth Circuit Declines Rehearing

The full Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals declined to rehear Lighthiser v. Trump, allowing an unprecedented three-judge panel decision to stand—the first federal circuit court opinion in U.S. history to deny Article III judicial power to review an allegedly unconstitutional executive order. 

The panel’s decision was unpublished, meaning it is not precedent for future cases. By declining rehearing, the full Ninth Circuit did not endorse or correct the panel’s reasoning. The constitutional questions at the heart of the youth plaintiffs’ case remain unanswered. 

“No circuit court in American history has ever said it lacked the power to review an unconstitutional executive order. Until this case,” said Julia Olson, Chief Legal Counsel and Co-Executive Director of Our Children’s Trust. “Today the full Ninth Circuit had the opportunity to correct that historic mistake. Instead it let it stand. The President cannot lawfully direct a sweeping fossil fuel agenda that endangers children's lives with no meaningful judicial check. That is not the country the Constitution created. And we are not done fighting for the one it promised." 

Read the press release here