On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order declining to intervene in the legal battle regarding plea agreements for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants, Mustafa al Hawsawi and Walid bin ‘Attash. The defendants had sought to reinstate plea deals that would have guaranteed life imprisonment in exchange for avoiding the death penalty. By refusing to hear the case, the Court effectively allows the Pentagon’s previous decision to revoke those agreements to stand.

The legal status of these plea deals has been a point of contention for years. The government’s move to revoke the agreements keeps the death penalty as a potential outcome for the defendants. The military trial for the accused 9/11 plotters is currently slated to begin in June 2028, more than 25 years after the 2001 attacks.

While both Axios and the Washington Examiner report the same outcome, they differ in how they characterize the Court's action. Axios frames the decision as a denial of the defendants' bid to reinstate the deal, whereas the Washington Examiner frames it as the Court siding with the Pentagon’s decision to revoke the agreement. Both outlets agree that the primary consequence of this legal development is that the death penalty remains a possibility for the accused.