The clerk of the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday issued the court’s mandate in former president Donald J. Trump’s case on presidential immunity, mistakenly awarding court costs for Trump.
The document officially notifies the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Colombia Circuit that the nation’s highest court overturned their decision, returning control of the case to the lower court. The D.C. Circuit remanded the case later that day to Tanya S. Chutkan, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Colombia, “for further proceedings consistent with the Supreme Court’s opinion.”
In the 6-3 opinion, announced July 1, the Supreme Court held that “with respect to the President’s exercise of his core constitutional powers,” he maintains absolute immunity from criminal prosecution. They did not decide if any of the charges against Trump, which revolve around his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, are based on unofficial actions for which he would not be immune.
The clerk’s office quietly revised the filing to remove the section awarding Trump court costs. “IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the petitioner, Donald J. Trump, recover from United States, Three Thousand Two Hundred Thirty-two Dollars and Eighty Cents ($3,232.80) for costs herein expended,” the clerk wrote in the now-removed section.
The mandate’s issuance also ends the period during which the government could petition the court to rehear the case. The court typically denies such requests.
Since 1817, in the shortest known U.S. Supreme Court decision, the court has held that private citizens may not demand court costs from the federal government. “The United States never pay costs,” read the court’s six-word unanimous opinion in the 200-year-old case, United States v. Barker.
No record of the original mandate exists on the court’s website, though both versions appear on the D.C. Circuit court’s docket. A spokesperson for the court could not be immediately reached for comment.