---
type: source
title: "DC Circuit Government Brief Due May 6: Iran Conflict 'Equitable Balance' Argument Central — May 19 Oral Arguments Proceed"
author: "Jones Walker LLP, CNBC, Bitcoin News, Jones Walker 'Two Courts Two Postures' analysis"
url: https://www.joneswalker.com/en/insights/blogs/ai-law-blog/two-courts-two-postures-what-the-dc-circuits-stay-denial-means-for-the-anthrop.html
date: 2026-05-06
domain: ai-alignment
secondary_domains: []
format: thread
status: unprocessed
priority: high
tags: [dc-circuit, government-brief, equitable-balance, iran-conflict, may19, judicial-deference, anthropic-pentagon]
intake_tier: research-task
---

## Content

**DC Circuit Case:** Anthropic PBC v. U.S. Department of War, No. 26-1049 (D.C. Circuit, judicial review under FASCSA)

**Current status (May 6, 2026):**
- April 8: Panel (Henderson, Katsas, Rao) denied Anthropic's stay request
- Stay denial language: "the equitable balance here cuts in favor of the government...vital AI technology during an active military conflict"
- Panel directed parties to brief three threshold questions including jurisdiction
- Anthropic's opening brief: April 22
- Government brief: due May 6 (today)
- Oral arguments: May 19, 2026

**Government's core argument (from stay denial preview):**
"On one side is a relatively contained risk of financial harm to a single private company. On the other side is judicial management of how, and through whom, the Department of War secures vital AI technology during an active military conflict."

**Three threshold questions before May 19 (Jones Walker analysis):**
1. Whether the DC Circuit has jurisdiction over Anthropic's FASCSA petition (key issue — if no jurisdiction, merits never argued)
2. Whether Anthropic has standing
3. Whether the case is moot given ongoing White House EO negotiations

**Anthropic's counter-argument (MLex):**
Anthropic told the DC Circuit the Trump administration violated constitutional rights (First Amendment retaliation per SF district court finding). Anthropic's April 22 brief argued the supply chain designation was pretext for punishing protected speech about AI safety concerns.

**The same panel situation:**
Sessions 43-44 noted that legal experts predicted adverse outcome given this is the same panel that denied the stay. The stay denial's equitable balance language suggests the panel is already inclined to defer to executive authority in the wartime context.

**CDT/ACLU amicus:**
The Center for Democracy and Technology filed amicus brief supporting Anthropic, highlighting that the mass surveillance issue Anthropic was "punished for raising" is itself constitutionally significant. The ACLU also filed in support.

**The mootness risk:**
If the White House EO is signed before May 19, the government can argue the case is moot (the supply chain designation effectively lifted). But: the designation may persist formally even with an EO work-around (pending full legislative or executive reversal). The court may proceed on the First Amendment merits even if the practical harm is reduced.

## Agent Notes

**Why this matters:** May 19 is the binary decision point for Mode 2 Mechanism B (judicial deference to executive in wartime AI procurement). The government brief's reliance on Iran conflict equitable balance framing is significant: the government is betting that wartime deference is sufficient to deny Anthropic on the merits without engaging the constitutional retaliation argument. This is legally fragile (Lawfare analysis, Session 43) but may succeed given the panel composition.

**What surprised me:** The "active military conflict" language was used at the stay stage — meaning the court already pre-committed the equitable balance analysis before seeing the merits. The government brief likely builds on this foundation rather than abandoning it. The jurisdictional question (can DC Circuit hear FASCSA cases) is the government's backup argument — if they win on jurisdiction, they never have to defend the merits.

**What I expected but didn't find:** Evidence of whether the government brief invoked the Palantir Maven targeting use case explicitly (that Claude is being used in the war via Palantir). The government may or may not have filed classified portions of its brief that reference this.

**KB connections:**
- [[government designation of safety-conscious AI labs as supply chain risks inverts the regulatory dynamic by penalizing safety constraints rather than enforcing them]] — the DC Circuit case is the legal challenge to this mechanism
- [[voluntary safety pledges cannot survive competitive pressure]] — the judicial test is whether the First Amendment can protect what competitive pressure couldn't
- Mode 2 Mechanism B: judicial self-negation via wartime deference

**Extraction hints:**
- Track: May 19 outcome. Extract claims May 20 based on ruling.
- If adverse ruling: claim that "wartime AI procurement decisions are insulated from First Amendment judicial review by equitable deference doctrine, completing the governance failure stack's legal layer"
- If favorable ruling: partial B1 disconfirmation candidate — first governance mechanism surviving coercive government pressure in 45 sessions

**Context:** Jones Walker LLP analysis of the two-courts posture is detailed legal commentary by government contractors specialists. CNBC and Bitcoin News cover the stay denial. MLex covers Anthropic's April 22 brief content. All reliable for legal procedural facts; interpretations are legal expert assessment.

## Curator Notes (structured handoff for extractor)
PRIMARY CONNECTION: [[government designation of safety-conscious AI labs as supply chain risks inverts the regulatory dynamic by penalizing safety constraints rather than enforcing them]]
WHY ARCHIVED: The May 19 oral arguments are the binary decision point for Mode 2 Mechanism B — extract AFTER May 19 ruling; this archive is setup/context for the post-ruling extraction
EXTRACTION HINT: Don't extract claims from this source now — wait for May 19 outcome; use this archive to inform the post-ruling extraction
