Supreme Court Declines to Revive Plea Deals That Removed Death Penalty for 9/11 Defendants

The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday that it would not review former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s decision to withdraw 2024 plea agreements with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two co-defendants accused of plotting the September 11, 2001, attacks. The denial leaves in place a D.C. Circuit ruling that Austin had authority to cancel the deals, which had taken the death penalty off the table in exchange for guilty pleas.

The Court issued the decision on its regular orders list without explanation or noted dissents. Justice Brett Kavanaugh did not participate; he previously handled Guantánamo-related cases as a D.C. Circuit judge.

Mohammed, Mustafa al-Hawsawi, and Walid bin ‘Attash had asked the justices to reinstate the agreements negotiated by the military commissions’ convening authority. Austin revoked the deals two days after they were approved, stating that a decision of that magnitude should rest with the Secretary of Defense. A military judge and the Court of Military Commission Review later held the agreements enforceable; the D.C. Circuit reversed that conclusion in 2025, finding Austin “indisputably had legal authority to withdraw.”

The Trump administration has continued to defend Austin’s action. Victims’ family groups had criticized the original agreements. The practical effect of Monday’s denial is that pre-trial proceedings can continue in the military commissions. A trial date has not been set; the cases have been delayed for years by disputes over evidence obtained from CIA detention and interrogation programs.

The accused have been held at Guantánamo Bay for nearly two decades. Mohammed is identified in the 9/11 Commission Report as the principal architect of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.