On January 12, 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order declining to hear a case that would have addressed whether Congress is permitted to adopt legislation dictating the results of on-going judicial proceedings. The one-sentence order did not explain the Court’s rationale. The order was a setback for WLF, which filed a brief urging the Court to grant review. WLF argued that while Congress is permitted to amend generally applicable law even when doing so affects pending lawsuits, separation-of-powers principles prohibit Congress from exercising judicial power by dictating the results in individual cases without simultaneously making its new rule generally applicable. The case involved a dispute among a number of oil companies regarding Alaska oil revenues; after an administrative judge ruled in favor of two companies, Congress intervened and ordered that the monetary award be greatly reduced.