“The Supreme Court will decide whether the 2020 census can include a question about citizenship that could affect the allocation of seats in the House of Representatives and the distribution of billions of dollars in federal money,” the AP reports.
“The justices agreed Friday to a speedy review of a lower court ruling that has so far blocked the Trump administration from adding the citizenship question to the census for the first time since 1950.”
Jeffrey Toobin: “It’s true that Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, would likely violate his Merrick Garland rule and try to push through a nominee in 2020, an election year, but 2019 would be much easier to navigate. So, many conservatives are asking, why shouldn’t Thomas leave now?”
“It seems that the President may have had the same thought. Trump has shown unusual solicitude for Justice Thomas and his wife, Ginni, a hard-right political activist. The President and the First Lady had the Thomases to dinner, and then Trump welcomed Ginni and some of her movement colleagues to the White House for an hour-long discussion.”
“Trump rarely engages in this kind of cultivation, and it’s reasonable to speculate that he’s trying to persuade the Justice that his seat would be in good hands if he decided to leave.”
“Democrats and liberal groups on Friday pointed to a Supreme Court ruling in an abortion case to argue that Justice Brett Kavanaugh would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, focusing their ire on Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican who supported Kavanaugh’s nomination last year and faces a tough 2020 reelection,” the Washington Post reports.
“The outcry from the left follows the court’s 5-to-4 vote to block a restrictive Louisiana abortion law… While Democrats hailed the decision, they pointed to Kavanaugh’s dissent as a sign that he is poised to side with conservatives in future rulings on abortion rights.”
“The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked a Louisiana law that its opponents say could have left the state with only one doctor in a single clinic authorized to provide abortions,” the New York Times reports.
“The vote was 5 to 4, with Chief Justice John Roberts joining the court’s four-member liberal wing.”
“Top figures in the pro-Trump media are claiming Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is hiding a secret illness or is even dead, elevating a bizarre new claim from the fringe QAnon conspiracy theory,” the Daily Beast reports.
“On Thursday, former White House adviser Sebastian Gorka suggested on Twitter that the Ginsburg, 85, who has cancelled public appearances since undergoing surgery to remove cancerous lung growths in late December, might be hiding a medical condition. But, Gorka tweeted, all would have to be revealed if Ginsburg appeared at the State of the Union address on Feb. 5.”
President Trump told the Daily Caller that he is “confined” to a list of 25 potential Supreme Court nominees that his administration released in 2017 for his next pick for the top court.
The list, which was first released during the 2016 presidential campaign, was compiled with the assistance of the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation.
“President Trump met last week with a delegation of hard-right activists led by Ginni Thomas, the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, listening quietly as members of the group denounced transgender people and women serving in the military before accusing White House aides of blocking Trump supporters from getting jobs in the administration,” the New York Times reports.
“For 60 minutes, Mr. Trump sat, saying little but appearing taken aback.”
“It is unusual for the wife of a sitting Supreme Court justice to have such a meeting with the president, and some close to Mr. Trump said it was inappropriate for Ms. Thomas to have asked for a meeting with the head of a different branch of government.”
“The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday let an unidentified foreign government-owned company appeal under seal a grand jury subpoena possibly related to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russia’s role in the 2016 election, and the firm said a ruling against it would ‘wreak havoc’ on American foreign policy,” Reuters reports.
“The Supreme Court on Tuesday revived the Trump administration’s policy of barring most transgender people from serving in the military. In a brief, unsigned order, the justices temporarily stayed trial court decisions blocking the policy while litigation in the lower courts moves forward,” the New York Times reports.
“The vote was 5 to 4. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented.”
Fox & Friends apologized on Monday after briefly airing a graphic suggesting that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is dead, Mediaite reports.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s recovery from surgery is “on track” but she will miss oral arguments next week, the Supreme Court announced Friday, according to CNN.
Ginsburg is still recuperating from surgery to remove two cancerous nodules from her lungs.
“The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to intervene in a mysterious subpoena fight apparently involving a foreign-government-owned company and special counsel Robert Mueller,” Politico reports.
“The unknown firm had asked the high court to block a federal judge’s contempt order and financial penalties for refusing to comply with the subpoena, arguing that the company is immune from U.S. grand jury subpoenas.”
Washington Post: “The entity that is the subject of the cloaked legal battle — known in court papers simply as a ‘Corporation’ from ‘Country A’ — is a foreign financial institution that was issued a subpoena by a grand jury hearing evidence in the special counsel investigation.”
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg “will not be on the bench Monday when the Supreme Court hears oral arguments, the first time in her career she has missed a session,” the Washington Post reports.
“Ginsburg had surgery Dec. 21 for two malignant nodules in her left lung, the 85-year-old justice’s third bout with cancer.”
“President Trump is betting big on the Supreme Court in 2019 to revive controversial policies on issues ranging from immigration and border security to transgender soldiers in the military,” USA Today reports.
“Seeking to match the success he had at the high court on his immigration travel ban against predominantly Muslim countries last year, Trump is counting on the justices – including two that he picked – to reverse lower court losses at the hands of both liberal and conservative judges.”
“Previously unreported documents obtained by the Daily Beast provide the first glimpse into the finances of a key node in that network, traced to Federalist Society president Leonard Leo, a major player in Washington’s wars over the makeup of the federal judiciary.”
“Those documents, like others revealed over the last few months, provide a deeper glimpse into the expanding role that Leo’s played in advancing the Trump administration’s agenda on legal matters in particular. And they underscore the degree to which anonymous, high-dollar donors have bankrolled the advocacy behind Trump’s highly successful efforts to reshape the federal judiciary.”
“A federal judge in Washington has extended the term of a grand jury hearing evidence uncovered by the special counsel, Robert Mueller, in his investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential race and the Trump campaign,” the New York Times reports.
“The jurors, impaneled in July 2017, will continue to meet for up to six months.”
“Officials at the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts say the judiciary will begin to face significant challenges after Jan. 11 if funding hasn’t been restored. The courts have been dipping into court fees and other sources that aren’t dependent on new congressional appropriations, but those funds have their limits,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“If the shutdown continues, federal courts will have to come up with plans for managing reduced operations, and funding could be in jeopardy for jurors, court reporters, public defenders and some court staffers, as well as for some supervision and other services the courts provide to offenders on probation. The Supreme Court faces the same funding timeline as the rest of the courts, a high-court spokeswoman said Wednesday.”
President Trump “has gotten more judges confirmed to federal appeals courts in his first two years in office than any president in modern history. With 30 new circuit judges on the bench, and a dozen nominees pending in the Senate, Trump has more than made good on a campaign promise to reshape the judiciary,” BuzzFeed News reports.
“These judges have lifetime appointments, but they haven’t wasted time asserting themselves on everything from gun rights and abortion to political speech and the power of federal agencies — subjects at the heart of partisan battles leading up to their confirmation. Conservatives are thrilled.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
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