⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

Real court arguments, crisp audio, with context.

Court recordings can be difficult to follow, and many suffer from poor audio quality. This podcast enhances the audio, provides a brief introduction to each case, and explains legal concepts that may be unfamiliar to some listeners.

We hope these enhancements make oral argument recordings easier to understand, more accessible, and more enjoyable to listen to.

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American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, et al. v. United States Office of Personnel Management, et al. — 9th Cir. (Aug 28, 2026)

No. 25-5875 Argued August 28, 2026 Published August 29, 2026; updated September 5, 2026

The Ninth Circuit considers whether the Civil Service Reform Act bars district-court review of a government-wide Office of Personnel Management directive under the Administrative Procedure Act. Unions, nonprofits, and Washington State sued OPM and other agencies. The district court held that OPM unlawfully directed probationary terminations and ordered corrective relief; that merits ruling is not before this panel. The government says the Act forecloses review. The plaintiffs say their challenge to OPM falls outside it because these employees had no administrative channel for this claim.

American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, et al. v. United States Office of Personnel Management, et al. (No. 25-5875) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, argued August 28, 2026.

Sources
Argument audio — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (public domain, 17 U.S.C. § 105):https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/media/2026/08/28/25-5875.mp3
Argument listing — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit:https://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/cases/streams-videos/archive?case=25-5875&hearingDate=2026-08-28
Summary-judgment order — U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California:https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-cand-3_25-cv-01780/pdf/USCOURTS-cand-3_25-cv-01780-8.pdf
Federal workforce report — U.S. Government Accountability Office:https://files.gao.gov/reports/GAO-26-108427/index.html
Argument report — Courthouse News Service:https://www.courthousenews.com/feds-push-ninth-circuit-to-undo-corrected-employment-records-of-fired-workers/
Joshua M. Koppel — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit:https://www2.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/212883p.pdf
Joshua Koppel argument listing — U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit:https://media.cadc.uscourts.gov/recordings/bydate/2025/3
Danielle E. Leonard case record — Supreme Court of the United States:https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24/24A904/352768/20250324090408115_Application%20America%20Federation%20of%20Govt%20Employees.pdf
Danielle E. Leonard — Altshuler Berzon LLP:https://altshulerberzon.com/
Thunder Basin Coal Co. v. Reich — U.S. Reports:https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep510/usrep510200/usrep510200.pdf
Axon Enterprise, Inc. v. FTC — Supreme Court of the United States:https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/21-86_l5gm.pdf

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