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Why did the Supreme Court in Trump v. CASA not decide whether the birthright citizenship executive order was constitutional?

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A person ascends the steps of the west facade of the United States Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C., with its tall columns and a round fountain in the foreground. — Major Supreme Court Cases from the 2025–26 Term The west facade of the U.S. Supreme Court building, Washington, D.C.

In Trump v. CASA, Inc., et al. (2025), the Supreme Court did not rule on the constitutionality of the birthright citizenship executive order because the case was limited to an emergency request regarding the procedural authority of federal courts to issue nationwide injunctions.1

The Court specifically emphasized that the administration's emergency applications did not raise the question of whether the executive order violated the Fourteenth Amendment or the Nationality Act of 1940, and therefore, the justices declined to address those substantive issues. Instead, the Court focused its decision on the equitable authority of federal courts, finding that universal injunctions in cases with limited plaintiffs likely exceed the power granted by Congress. Consequently, the Court's ruling was restricted to partially staying the injunctions only to the extent necessary to provide relief to the specific plaintiffs with standing, leaving the underlying constitutional challenge to be addressed in subsequent litigation.1