The supreme court left it kind of vague in their ruling. The courts are supposed to decide, but for something like this no matter what the lower courts decide, any ruling would almost certainly get appealed up all the way up to the supreme court. So what is or isn’t an official act is basically boils to whatever the supreme court decides it to be.
I was always a bit impressed by those shuttles. They are warp capable and apparently capable of maintaining warp speed for at least several weeks making them more of a starship themselves than just a shuttle. Not bad for something the size of a large van.