McDonnell v. United States established what behaviors counted as “official acts” for the purposes of federal bribery statutes. Governor McDonnell was accused of being bribed to set up phone calls, meetings, and launch events for the founder of a company, who, in turn, paid him and provided lavish gifts. The Court had to determine if these acts counted as official government action.

Groff v. DeJoy expanded protections for religious employees by increasing the standard of hardship and expense employers had to show that they incurred before they could deny religious accomodations.

Kennedy v. Bremerton School District affirmed the free exercise rights of teachers while at school-sponsored events and did away with the Lemon test as a way of seeing if laws violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

Watson v. RNC was heard in the 2026 Supreme Court session and dealt with the issue of voting by mail. the RNC argued that ballots received in the mail after election day should not be able to count. The Court decided that federal statutes are not violated by state laws that allow ballots to be received late, as long as they are cast by election day.

After the Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. Slaughter, Humphrey’s Executor v. U.S. was overturned. The case protected those working for independent federal agencies from removal by the president without just case. This acted as a check on executive power for over 90 years.