NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court issued decisions in two low-profile cases, setting Thursday as the last day of his term with two highly successful decisions.
A case on the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency to issue important rules and a second case on whether President Joe Biden should implement the “Stay in Mexico” policy remain to be decided in court.
Decisions, or a ruling, were expected Wednesday on at least one of those cases, but the court issued two minor decisions on the federal government’s criminal jurisdiction over Native American reservations and veteran employment rules.
The Supreme Court has only two important cases left to decide this term. (Photo AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
HOW MITCH MCCONNELL PAYING THE “LONG GAME” MODIFIED THE SUPREME COURT AND HAS LEAD TO THE END OF ROIL ABORTION
The case over veterans ’employment rules, Torres v. Texas Department of Public Safety, may be the final opinion of Judge Stephen Breyer before retiring at the end of that term.
Breyer wrote a majority opinion which was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Judges Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Brett Kavanaugh. The court ruled that federal law required Texas to return police work to an Afghan veteran who fell ill from toxic burns on his return to the U.S.
JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS WILL NOT BE ACCOMPANIED BY GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY MEGRIT STUDENT INDIGATION
“Torres asked his former employer, the Texas Department of Public Safety (Texas) respondent, to adjust to his condition by re-hiring him in a different role,” Breyer wrote.
However, a federal law requires state governments to return their jobs to returning veterans, and the court ruled that Texas had to comply with that law.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“If a state, or even 25 states, decides to protest a war by refusing to hire returning service members, Congress, Texas said, would be powerless to authorize private reinstatement demands against those states.” said Breyer. “The potentially debilitating effect on national security would not matter.”
He continued: “We think it matters for one simple reason. The text, history and precedent show that states, in uniting to form a Union, agreed to sacrifice their sovereign immunity for the sake of common defense.”
Tyler Olson covers the policy for Fox News Digital. You can contact him at tyler.olson@fox.com and follow him on Twitter at @ TylerOlson1791.