The Justice Department is urging the Supreme Court to reject a bid by alleged Sept. 11 attack mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and a co-defendant to restore plea agreements that would spare them the death penalty.

Solicitor General D. John Sauer asked the justices on Wednesday to leave in place a federal appeals court ruling that allowed the Pentagon to withdraw from the agreements with the alleged attack plotters, Mohammed and Mustafa Ahmed al Hawsawi. His response was in regard to a military judge’s November 2024 finding that the Pentagon had acted too late because the defendants had already begun fulfilling the agreements, which cleared the way for their guilty pleas that shielded them from capital punishment.