The US Supreme Court on Monday, October 19, 2026, refused to revive the 9/11 plea deal that would have allowed Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other men accused in the September 11, 2001 attacks to plead guilty in exchange for life sentences. The unsigned order leaves in place a lower-court ruling that the Pentagon was entitled to withdraw from the agreements, so the death penalty remains a possible punishment in the military-commission case at Guantanamo Bay.
Key points
- The court turned away appeals from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Mustafa al-Hawsawi and Walid bin ’Atash without a written opinion.
- Justice Brett Kavanaugh did not take part in considering the appeal, according to CBS News; no reason was given.
- A military judge has set a trial date of June 2028, subject to deadlines and milestones being met.
What the Supreme Court did
The order was a refusal to hear the case, not a ruling on guilt or innocence. The three men had asked the justices to hold the government to pretrial agreements reached with military prosecutors in 2024. By declining to take up the appeals, the court left standing a decision of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that barred a military judge from enforcing those agreements.
CBS News reported that the D.C. Circuit panel found that then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin "indisputably" had authority to withdraw from the deals. The panel wrote: "The Secretary acted within the bounds of his legal authority, and we decline to second-guess his judgment." The Associated Press described that panel as divided. NBC News reported that the defendants had argued, among other things, that the appeals court had no authority to intervene.
How the plea deals unravelled
According to CBS News, plea discussions began after retired Brigadier General Susan Escallier was appointed as the Convening Authority for the military commissions in 2023. Agreements were reached and approved in 2024. Under them, the defendants would plead guilty to all charges and receive life sentences rather than face execution.
Shortly after the deals were announced, Austin, who served under President Joe Biden, said he was revoking them. The AP reported that he argued only the defense secretary should decide on the death penalty in a case this grave. A military judge ruled in November 2024 that the revocation was unlawful, and a military appeals court agreed, holding that the defendants had already begun performing their side of the agreements. The government then went to the D.C. Circuit, which sided with it.
The three men were captured in 2003, held at secret CIA sites and moved to Guantanamo Bay in 2006, CBS News reported. They were formally charged in 2008. The case has been slowed for years by disputes over whether evidence obtained through interrogations, which the defence says involved torture, can be used in court. NBC News noted that a fifth defendant, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, is also slated for trial but was not part of this appeal.
What has not been confirmed
The order does not decide whether any defendant is guilty, and it does not decide whether prosecutors will ultimately seek or obtain a death sentence. It also does not fix a firm trial date: CBS News reported that the June 2028 date set in August 2026 depends on the parties meeting certain deadlines. Any statement claiming that executions are now certain, or that a new plea deal has been agreed, would go beyond what the public record shows. No reason was given for Justice Kavanaugh’s non-participation, and the court’s order did not record a vote.
Why it matters
The decision ends the defendants’ effort to lock in life sentences through the 2024 agreements and returns the case to the slow path of pretrial litigation at Guantanamo, nearly 25 years after the attacks. The AP reported that relatives of victims have been divided: some see a full trial as the best route to justice, while others viewed the deals as the best hope of ending a case that has dragged on for decades. The ruling also confirms, at least for this case, that a defense secretary can step in to withdraw agreements negotiated by the officials who run the military commissions.
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Sources
- CBS News, October 19, 2026: Supreme Court turns away appeal from alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
- NBC News, October 19, 2026: Supreme Court rejects alleged 9/11 mastermind’s attempt to revive plea deal
- Associated Press (via ABC News), October 19, 2026: Supreme Court rejects effort to revive Khalid Sheikh Mohammed plea deal
Reported October 20, 2026 (India Standard Time), using AI-assisted drafting and source checks. Original AI-assisted editorial illustration by Taaza Khabar, generated October 20, 2026; conceptual scene, not a photograph of the event.
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