Roberts led 2016 Clean Power Plan stay, new reporting shows

The New York Times obtained internal court materials showing Chief Justice John Roberts personally pushed an emergency stay in February 2016 that halted enforcement of the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan nationwide. The documents and legal analyst Steve Vladeck show Roberts drafted and advanced a stay described as 'to preserve the status quo pending judicial review' even though the rule had already taken effect in many states. By steering that unprecedented nationwide emergency order, Roberts created the practical template the Court has since used to issue rapid, case-shaping orders from its emergency or 'shadow' docket in later high-profile disputes.