President Obama's last hope for pushing through his executive action on immigration have vanished. The Supreme Court has rejected the White House's petition to rehear United States v. Texas, the case involving the president's plan to protect millions of immigrants from deportation.
Before it reached the Supreme Court, the case was halted by an appeals court who deemed it unconstitutional. When it reached Washington, it ended in a 4-4 tie, meaning the appeals court decision would stand.
Because the Supreme Court is currently short of nine justices, it had the option to wait for the president to appoint a new justice before deciding whether or not to hold another hearing. The high court has been known to do this on significant cases. But not this time, to the chagrin of the current administration.
"This Court therefore should grant rehearing to provide for a decision by the Court when it has a full complement of Members, rather than allow a nonprecedential affirmance by an equally divided Court to leave in place a nationwide injunction of such significance," the White House urged in its petition.
Obama's best hope now is for Hillary Clinton to be elected in November. She has vowed to enforce the immigration plan one way or another.