(CNN)The Supreme Court slapped down the Biden administration twice this week, giving the White House scant regard in a Tuesday dispute over asylum policy and late Thursday acidly rejecting its defense of an eviction moratorium tied to the surge in Covid-19 infections.

The two actions reflect the fraught relationship between President Joe Biden and the conservative-dominated bench. The combined moves also demonstrate a flexing of ideological, if not political, muscle, even as the justices regularly declare themselves above partisanship.