WASHINGTON, October 19, 2026 (DAILYNWZ) — The US Supreme Court on Monday refused to revive a plea agreement that would have spared Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks, from the death penalty, prolonging a legal battle that has delayed the Guantanamo military case for decades.
The justices rejected appeals by Mohammed and two co-defendants challenging a lower court ruling that upheld former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s decision to cancel their 2024 plea agreements. The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit had ruled that Austin, who served under former President Joe Biden, acted within his legal authority and had not intervened too late.
The agreements, accepted by the Pentagon official overseeing military proceedings at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, would have allowed Mohammed, Mustafa al Hawsawi and Walid bin ‘Atash to plead guilty in exchange for avoiding the death penalty. The deals drew criticism from Republican lawmakers, and Austin withdrew them two days after they were approved.
A military judge initially ruled that Austin lacked the authority to invalidate the agreements. That decision was upheld in December by the US Court of Military Commission Review, after which the judge scheduled prompt hearings for the defendants to enter their pleas.
The appeals court paused those proceedings. In July 2025, a divided panel ruled 2-1 in favor of Austin’s decision, stating that he “indisputably had legal authority to withdraw from the agreements.”
Lawyers representing Mohammed and al Hawsawi, including attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union, urged the Supreme Court to take up the case. They argued that Austin’s action violated governing military law and had “prolonged the best chance for finality in the September 11 case in a quarter century.”
The Supreme Court’s refusal to intervene marks another setback in efforts to resolve one of the most protracted prosecutions arising from the September 11 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people.
Mohammed remains the most prominent detainee at the Guantanamo facility, established in 2002 by then-President George W. Bush to hold foreign terrorism suspects following the attacks. He is accused of organizing the plot to hijack passenger planes and crash them into New York’s World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia.
Despite years of legal proceedings, the case remains unresolved. In August, a US Air Force judge scheduled the trial of Mohammed and his co-defendants for June 2028.