On Tuesday, ABC’s World News Tonight didn’t find it pertinent to inform their millions of viewers that the Supreme Court decided hours earlier that it will hear a case concerning the legality of President Obama’s executive amnesty after having worked its way up through the federal court system.
Amidst the media obsession with Donald Trump, the CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News found 23 and 19 seconds, respectively, to allude to this news from the Supreme Court in separate news briefs.
On CBS, anchor Scott Pelley reported that “the United States Supreme Court said it will rule on a showdown between President Obama and Congress” following the President’s December 2014 decision to go around “Congress and issued executive actions that would shield millions of illegal immigrants from deportation, such as the parents of children born in the United States.”
As per the usual for blockbuster cases, Pelley mentioned that the Court will decide by late June “whether the President overstepped his power.”
Meanwhile, NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt started his brief by explaining that “[t]he stage is now set for what could be a major Supreme Court ruling on presidential power.”
Holt then harped on the fact that the President’s plans on immigration “have been blocked by lower courts” and the Supreme Court acting as “the administration's last chance to put into affect measures that would shield some four million undocumented migrants from deportation.”
The transcript of the brief from the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley on January 19 can be found below.
CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley
January 19, 20166:39 p.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE CAPTION: Immigration Lawsuit]
SCOTT PELLEY: Today, the United States Supreme Court said it will rule on a showdown between President Obama and Congress. In 2014, Mr. Obama bypassed Congress and issued executive actions that would shield millions of illegal immigrants from deportation, such as the parents of children born in the United States. The Court will decide by summer whether the President overstepped his power.
The transcript of the brief from January 19's NBC Nightly News can be found below.
NBC Nightly News
January 19, 2016
7:11 p.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE CAPTION: Immigration Battle]
LESTER HOLT: The stage is now set for what could be a major Supreme Court ruling on presidential power. The high court will take up President Obama's executive actions on immigration which have been blocked by lower courts. This will be the administration's last chance to put into affect measures that would shield some four million undocumented migrants from deportation.
