U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer urged the Supreme Court on Wednesday to reject a petition from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and a co-defendant regarding their 2024 plea agreements. The defendants, described as the mastermind and a co-defendant of the Sept. 11 attacks, are seeking to restore agreements that would allow them to avoid the death penalty.
The legal dispute follows a series of conflicting decisions regarding the validity of these plea deals. A Pentagon official approved the agreements on July 31, 2024, but then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin canceled them two days later, stating that a decision of such significance should rest with him. While a military judge and a military appeals court initially ruled that Austin acted too late to cancel the deals, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed those decisions in July 2025.
In other court news, Chief Justice John Roberts issued an administrative stay last Friday to allow construction on a new White House ballroom to proceed. The court is also scheduled to release its final summer order list on Friday, Sept. 4. Separately, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols declined a Justice Department request to erase the conviction of Steven Bannon for contempt of Congress, stating that prosecutors did not sufficiently explain their reasons for the dismissal.
This legal development affects the two defendants currently facing capital charges related to the Sept. 11 attacks, as well as the families of the victims of the 2001 strikes. The outcome of this Supreme Court petition will determine whether the government can proceed with seeking the death penalty or if it must honor plea deals that would result in life sentences for the accused. The case centers on the executive branch's authority to override specific military commission agreements.
The case follows decades of legal proceedings since the 2001 attacks and the subsequent creation of the military commission system at Guantanamo Bay. If the Supreme Court denies the petition, capital punishment remains a legal option. Conversely, if the plea deals were restored, it would finalize the sentencing phase for the primary figures accused of planning the attacks.
The final decision may establish a precedent for the control a Secretary of Defense holds over subordinate officials in military justice matters. It also follows other issues currently before the court, such as a case involving journalist Catherine Herridge, who faces an $800 daily fine for refusing to disclose a source. The court's upcoming summer order list on Sept. 4 may provide further clarity on which of these petitions the justices will formally hear. Judge Nichols indicated the government may renew its request for dismissal in the Bannon case if it follows the law.