Supreme Court to hear cases by telephone in May

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments via teleconference in May, it announced Monday.

Why it matters: It's the first time the court will hear cases remotely — and it'll allow the media to listen in as well — marking a huge step for the notoriously technophobic branch of government amid the coronavirus crisis.

• The 10 cases on the docket, which were previously indefinitely postponed, will now take place on May 4–6 and 11–13.
• There's no word if the public will be allowed to listen in live.

Worth watching: Three of the cases involve President Trump's efforts to prevent congressional committees and New York prosecutors from accessing his financial records and tax returns.

• The court granted an emergency stay on a subpoena late last year that would have allowed the release of Trump's financial records, setting up a Supreme Court showdown on the case.
• The decision to move to telephonic arguments means that a decision could come down on the president's financial records before the 2020 presidential election.

Go deeper: How the coronavirus could shield Trump's tax returns