'Death knell': Grim warning after Trump White House's 'terrifying attack' on rule of law

President Donald Trump's administration came closer to suspending habeas corpus — the constitutional right that lets a detained person challenge their imprisonment in court — than was previously known, according to a Slate analysis of recent reporting.

Writing in Slate's "Executive Dysfunction" newsletter, Shirin Ali described the idea as what would have been "perhaps the most aggressive and terrifying attack on the rule of law yet." The right has been formally suspended only a handful of times in U.S. history, all during wartime.

The push was detailed in reporting drawn from a forthcoming book by New York Times correspondents Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan. Deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, who is not a lawyer, championed the move to speed deportations after judges repeatedly found immigrants had been unlawfully detained. In May 2025, Miller said suspending the writ in "a time of invasion" was "an option we're actively looking at."

The proposal drew pushback from conservative lawyers inside the White House. Staff Secretary Will Scharf wrote a confidential April 2025 memo to Chief of Staff Susie Wiles warning that only Congress can suspend habeas, and only in cases of rebellion or invasion.

The idea was ultimately shelved, though reporting indicates it has not been entirely set aside. Legal experts have since warned how close the country came.

"Removing a person’s right to challenge a detention via habeas petition would essentially be a death knell to any semblance of protection from deportation for pretty much anyone, regardless of legal status," wrote Ali.

Ali noted that more than 54,000 habeas petitions have been filed since Trump's second term began — more than the past three administrations combined. The administration has admitted to mistakenly deporting people, including Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Ali wrote.

Ali pointed to detainees like Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Ozturk, who used the petitions to win their release — for many, one of the only tools left before deportation.

Ali concluded with a grim warning.

"For now it seems as if Trump, Miller, and the rest of the White House have abandoned the idea of suspending habeas. Still, as long as Trump is in office, there is plenty of time for the administration to change course."