The Latin loan phrase status quo, meaning literally the state in which, is used in English to mean the existing condition or state of affairs. The phrase usually serves as a noun, but it can also function as a phrasal adjective preceding a noun.
Status in quo is a longer, unnecessary variant of status quo, and status quo ante, mostly used in legal contexts, means the state of affairs at a previous time.
Examples
These writers use status quo correctly:
Our team is notorious for sticking with the status quo and not making waves. [Stampede Blue]
Gay rights advocates had lambasted the president for effectively supporting the status quo by compelling the Justice Department to defend the Defense of Marriage Act … [New York Observer]
A judge upholding the status quo is not as newsworthy as a judge radically altering it. [Washington Post]
Indeed, both the meaningful education reform and the status quo camps would probably agree, the national mood for the former has never been more on their side. [CNN International]
Because status quo means current state of affairs, the phrase current status quo is often redundant (with exceptions where a current state of affairs is being compared to a past one). In these sentences, current could be removed with no loss of meaning:
The show likes to hint that maybe he’ll come back to Lockhart/Gardner, or the current status quo will be redressed in some other manner . . . [AV Club]
Indeed, most indications show that they are heavily invested in the current status quo. [Guardian]
Of course, we could say the same about many phrases involving current and currently, which can often be removed.
