Supreme Court · Monday, October 5, 2026

Supreme Court opens its term today with Boulder’s climate suit against oil companies

The File desk · Oct 5, 2026, 10:40 AM UTC

Status

Confirmed as the schedule, the questions, and Justice Alito’s withdrawal (Supreme Court home page, argument calendar, questions presented, and dockets). The arguments have not happened.

Confirmed
October Term 2026 opens Monday, Oct. 5, with a public session at 10 a.m. Eastern and two arguments: Suncor Energy v. Boulder County, No. 25-170, and Johnson v. United States Congress, No. 25-735.
Confirmed
A Sept. 28 docket entry says Justice Samuel Alito will not continue to participate in No. 25-170. The entry gives no reason.

The justices return to the bench at 10 a.m. Eastern. The first case asks whether Boulder, Colorado, and Boulder County can use state law to sue Suncor Energy and Exxon Mobil for harm from climate change. Justice Samuel Alito will not take part. On Sept. 28 the Court’s clerk wrote the lawyers to say so, and the docket gives no reason. The second argument is from a Florida veteran. He asks whether federal trial courts can still hear a constitutional challenge to a law that caps disability pay for veterans in prison for a felony.

The Court’s home page for Monday, Oct. 5, says the justices will convene for a public session in the courtroom at 10 a.m. and hear two oral arguments. An order list is set for 9:30 a.m., before that session. This edition locks before the list posts. It does not describe what is on it.

The first case is Suncor Energy (U.S.A.) Inc. v. County Commissioners of Boulder County, No. 25-170. The companies asking the Court to take the case are Suncor Energy (U.S.A.) Inc., Suncor Energy Sales Inc., and Exxon Mobil Corporation. On the other side are the Boulder County commissioners and the City of Boulder. The case comes from the Colorado Supreme Court, No. 24SA206, which ruled May 12, 2025. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear it on Feb. 23, 2026.

The question the Court agreed to decide: “Whether federal law precludes state-law claims seeking relief for injuries allegedly caused by the effects of interstate and international greenhouse-gas emissions on the global climate.” The Court also told both sides to argue a second question: whether the Supreme Court has the power to hear the case at all, which the docket calls statutory and Article III jurisdiction.

On Sept. 4 the Court let the solicitor general share argument time as a friend of the court. The docket lines this desk read do not say which side the government supports.

The companies’ petition, a filing by one side and not the Court’s view, says the trial court refused to dismiss the suit and a divided Colorado Supreme Court affirmed. The petition says the majority held that once Congress passed the

, state law could presumptively reach emissions from other states. The petition says that conflicts with a 2021 Second Circuit decision, City of New York v. Chevron Corp.

The Sept. 28 docket entry reads: “Letter from Clerk of Court to counsel of record noting that Justice Alito will not continue to participate in this case.” It does not say why.

The second argument is Johnson v. United States Congress, No. 25-735. Floyd D. Johnson served in the Army from 1983 to 1985. While he was in a Florida prison he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and the Department of Veterans Affairs rated his disability at 80 percent. A federal law,

, limits any veteran imprisoned more than 60 days for a felony to the pay for a 10 percent rating. Representing himself, Johnson sued and named Congress as the defendant. He argued the law is an unconstitutional bill of attainder and denies him equal protection.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, No. 23-10682, decided Aug. 19, 2025, held that district courts have no power to hear the claim. The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case on April 6, 2026. The question presented asks whether the

stripped district courts of the power, recognized in Johnson v. Robison (1974), to hear challenges to the constitutionality of acts of Congress that affect veterans’ benefits. Johnson’s petition, again a party filing, says six circuits allow these suits and the Eighth and Eleventh do not.

Later this week the Court stays on the bench. On Tuesday it hears Anderson v. Intel Corp. Investment Policy Committee, No. 25-498, about what workers must claim when they say their retirement plan’s investments lagged. On Wednesday it hears Department of the Air Force v. Prutehi Guahan, No. 25-579. The Air Force asks the Court to end a Guam group’s challenge to the renewal of a hazardous-waste permit. The government argues that sending a renewal application to a regulator is not yet a final step people can sue over under the

, and that the does not apply at that stage. The hazardous-waste law in the case is the .

What this is

Legal instrument
Clean Air Act
The main federal law on air pollution. It lets the Environmental Protection Agency set national limits on pollutants. In the Boulder climate case, the Colorado court said that once Congress passed this law, state law could still reach emissions from other states.
42 U.S.C. § 7401
The main federal law on air pollution. It lets the Environmental Protection Agency set national limits on pollutants. In this case, the Colorado court said that once Congress passed the law, state law could still reach emissions from other states.
Legal instrument
Veterans' Judicial Review Act (38 U.S.C. § 511)
A 1988 law that opened a special court path for some veterans’ benefit decisions. It keeps a rule that the VA secretary’s decisions on benefits cannot be reviewed by other courts outside that path. The public-law number was not re-checked, so it is left off.
38 U.S.C. § 511
A 1988 law that opened a special court path for some veterans’ benefit decisions and keeps the VA secretary’s benefit decisions out of other courts. The public-law number was not re-checked, so it is left off.
Legal instrument
38 U.S.C. § 5313
This law limits disability pay for a veteran who is in jail or prison for more than 60 days after a felony conviction.
38 U.S.C. § 5313
This law limits disability pay for a veteran who is in jail or prison for more than 60 days after a felony conviction.
Legal instrument
Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. § 704)
People can sue over a government agency’s final actions. They generally cannot sue yet over a step that is still preliminary.
5 U.S.C. § 704
People can sue over a government agency’s final actions. They generally cannot sue yet over a step that is still preliminary.
Legal instrument
National Environmental Policy Act
This law requires federal agencies to study the environmental effects of major actions before they act.
42 U.S.C. § 4321
This law requires federal agencies to study the environmental effects of major actions before they act.
Legal instrument
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
The federal hazardous-waste law. It regulates waste from creation to disposal and lets the Environmental Protection Agency hand permit programs to states and territories.
42 U.S.C. § 6901
The federal hazardous-waste law. It regulates waste from creation to disposal and lets the Environmental Protection Agency hand permit programs to states and territories.

What is still unknown or disputed

Why Justice Alito stepped out of No. 25-170. The docket gives no reason.
What happens to that case with eight justices.
Which side the solicitor general supports in either Monday case.
What is on today’s 9:30 a.m. order list.
When the Court will decide.

Primary sources

Every claim in this story is drawn from the documents below. If a fetch failed, that is recorded on the card.

Source 1
Today at the Court — Monday, Oct. 5, 2026
Supreme Court of the United States · October 5, 2026
The Court will convene for a public session in the Courtroom at 10 a.m. The Justices will hear two oral arguments. Monday’s arguments are Suncor Energy (U.S.A) Inc. v. Commissioners of Boulder County (25-170) and Johnson v. United States Congress (25-735). Tuesday is Anderson v. Intel Corp. Investment Policy Committee (25-498). Wednesday is Department of Air Force v. Prutehi Guahan (25-579). An order list is listed at 9:30 a.m.
https://www.supremecourt.gov/
Source 2
Argument calendar for the session beginning October 5, 2026
Supreme Court of the United States · September 14, 2026
For the Session Beginning October 5, 2026. Amended September 14, 2026.
https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_calendars/MonthlyArgumentCalOctober2026.pdf
Source 3
Question presented, No. 25-170
Supreme Court of the United States · February 23, 2026
Whether federal law precludes state-law claims seeking relief for injuries allegedly caused by the effects of interstate and international greenhouse-gas emissions on the global climate.
https://www.supremecourt.gov/qp/25-00170qp.pdf
Source 4
Docket No. 25-170
Supreme Court of the United States · September 28, 2026
Letter from Clerk of Court to counsel of record noting that Justice Alito will not continue to participate in this case.
https://www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docketfiles/html/public/25-170.html
Source 5
Petition for a writ of certiorari, No. 25-170
Counsel for the petitioners, on the Supreme Court docket · August 8, 2025
Petitioners are energy companies that produce and sell fossil fuels. Party filing, used for background only.
https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25/25-170/369227/20250808130855966_Suncor_pet.pdf
Source 6
Question presented, No. 25-735
Supreme Court of the United States · April 6, 2026
Did the
Legal instrument
Veterans' Judicial Review Act (38 U.S.C. § 511)
A 1988 law that opened a special court path for some veterans’ benefit decisions. It keeps a rule that the VA secretary’s decisions on benefits cannot be reviewed by other courts outside that path. The public-law number was not re-checked, so it is left off.
38 U.S.C. § 511
strip district courts of the jurisdiction, recognized by this Court in Johnson v. Robison, 415 U.S. 361 (1974), to hear challenges to the constitutionality of acts of Congress affecting veterans' benefits?
https://www.supremecourt.gov/qp/25-00735qp.pdf
Source 7
Docket No. 25-735
Supreme Court of the United States · October 5, 2026
SET FOR ARGUMENT on Monday, October 5, 2026.
https://www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docketfiles/html/public/25-735.html
Source 8
Petition for a writ of certiorari, No. 25-735
Floyd D. Johnson, on the Supreme Court docket · December 17, 2025
Such veterans cannot receive benefits corresponding to more than a 10 percent disability rating, no matter how severe their service-related disability. Party filing, used for background only.
https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25/25-735/387696/20251217121950230_25-_%20Johnson%20v%20US%20Congress_Petition.pdf