Washington (CNN) For two weeks in a row, the Supreme Court has met behind closed doors in its ornate conference room to pore over an unusual number of controversial issues in order to decide whether to take up the cases this term.

So far, the justices have said nothing publicly.

Instead, they've issued orders lists that make no mention of the government's efforts to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration program, the transgender military ban, abortion, LGBT employment discrimination and the Second Amendment.

Each week, Washington has waited, poised to scrutinize the court's action on the cases, and the justices have responded with near silence.

The inaction comes as Chief Justice John Roberts is working to steer the court away from controversies that have almost crippled the two other branches of government, and liberal interest groups, ever mindful of the court's newly solidified conservative majority, seek to slow-walk some issues to protect them from adverse rulings.

Read More