⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The D.C. Circuit hears Holland versus Blanche, about payments from the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund. The claimants include September Eleventh survivors and victims’ families. Some say the Fund wrongly classified them as family members rather than victims, reducing their compensation. Another group obtained judgments after an application deadline and then had those judgments backdated. The Fund still treated their claims as late, excluding them from certain payments. The lawyers call those backdated orders nunc pro tunc judgments. The dispute includes catch-up payments for claimants previously excluded from this Fund because they had received awards from a separate September Eleventh compensation program. The district court dismissed the lawsuit, holding that Congress had barred judicial review of the Special Master’s compensation decisions. The Special Master is the official who administers the Fund. The claimants will argue that courts can still review underlying legal questions, including classifications and the treatment of backdated judgments. The government will argue that these are compensation decisions Congress made unreviewable.

Joseph Holland v. Todd Blanche (No. 25-5373) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, argued September 28, 2026.