“A federal appeals court has resuscitated a bid by journalists to make public the Justice Department’s grounds for getting a search warrant for Sen. Richard Burr’s (R-NC) phone two years ago during a since-closed criminal investigation into potential insider trading by the North Carolina Republican,” Politico reports.

Washington Post: “In the weeks since the White House launched its full-court offensive on Capitol Hill to get Jackson confirmed, Republicans have struggled to land an attack on Jackson, who even the Senate GOP leader has said will probably be confirmed. Interviews with more than a dozen Republican senators, aides and advisers involved in the nomination fight make it clear that Republicans are largely pursuing their own individual strategies ahead of the hearing, with no overarching theme.”

“In recent weeks, the Biden administration and key Republican lawmakers have forged a rare consensus on the need for a tougher response to Russia’s war in Ukraine, advocating for providing deadlier weapons, imposing ruinous sanctions, and promoting vigorous efforts to address the worst refugee crisis in Europe since World War II,” Foreign Policy reports.

“Yet, at the same time, Republican lawmakers, including Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and Roger Marshall of Kansas, have placed holds on the confirmation of several key Biden administration appointees with critical roles in addressing Ukraine’s crisis.”

“The Senate’s unanimous passage of a bill to make daylight saving time permanent stunned many Americans, not least of which the senators themselves,” BuzzFeed News reports.

Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin (D-IL) “derided a new GOP attack on Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, centered on her handling of sex offenders,” Politico reports.

Said Durbin: “I don’t believe in it being taken seriously. I’m troubled by it because it’s so outrageous. It really tests the committee as to whether we’re going to be respectful in the way we treat this nominee.”

“Durbin’s response — plus a heated reply from the White House — comes after Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, questioned Jackson’s record on the U.S. Sentencing Commission and as a district court judge in a series of tweets Wednesday, going so far as to say ‘her record endangers children.'”

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) told The Hill that she will make a bid to join Senate Republican leadership starting in 2023.

“The U.S. Senate voted 57 to 40 on Tuesday to overturn a 13-month-old public health order requiring masks on airplanes and other forms of public transportation, drawing a quick veto threat from President Joe Biden,” Reuters reports.

“Eight Democrats joined all but one Republican – Senator Mitt Romney – in voting to reject the rule.”

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) gave truckers in the so-called “People’s Convoy” a tour of the Capitol last week — even as the building remains mostly closed to the public, Politico reports.

“A bipartisan group of senators has tried and failed, for Congress after Congress, to keep America on Daylight Saving Time permanently,” Politico reports.

“Until Tuesday, when their bright idea finally cleared the chamber.”

“The quick and consequential move happened so fast that several senators said afterward they were unaware of what had just happened.”

Washingtonian: The U.S. tried permanent Daylight Saving Time in the 1970s. People hated it.

“It’s the Capitol’s election-year surprise: The 50-50 Senate is actually working,” Politico reports.

“After high-profile partisan failures on President Joe Biden’s signature domestic policy bill and on weakening the filibuster for voting reform, the chamber’s racked up a series of bipartisan accomplishments lately — some of which had eluded Congress for years.”

“Senators passed an anti-lynching law after literally 200 failed attempts, gave sexual misconduct claims firmer legal footing and approved sweeping postal reform. That’s on top of $14 billion for Ukraine as well as a long-awaited reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act as part of a massive spending bill, not to mention last year’s huge bipartisan infrastructure bill.”

Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) accused Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) of spiking his brother’s judicial nomination for homophobic reasons, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said he can’t support Sarah Bloom Raskin, President Biden’s nominee for the Federal Reserve’s vice chair of supervision, Axios reports.

Without Machin’s support, her confirmation is thrown into doubt.

Wall Street Journal: “Last month, Republican lawmakers united in opposition to Ms. Raskin refused to attend a crucial committee vote. That deprived Democrats of a quorum needed to advance her along with four other Fed nominees to the full Senate, including Chairman Jerome Powell.”

“A last-minute phone call from Mitch McConnell to Chuck Schumer helped seal an unprecedented congressional infusion of aid to Ukraine, increasing the ask by $1.5 billion in a single conversation,” Politico reports.

Said McConnell: “To Chuck’s credit, he said, ‘OK.’ It wasn’t a hard sell.”

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) “is requesting a hold on Eric Garcetti’s nomination to serve as President Joe Biden’s ambassador to India, pending an investigation into whether the mayor of Los Angeles lied when he told a congressional panel he was unaware of sexual harassment and assault allegations against his closest adviser,” Politico reports.