“Todd Blanche: The January 6 Slush Fund I Approved Is Not My Fault. Trump’s nominee for attorney general has backed off his $1.8 billion ‘anti-weaponization fund.’ Kind of. Mostly.” Madiba K. Dennie has this essay online at Balls and Strikes.

“Blanche Faces Crucial Hurdle After Rocky Hearing; Even a single Republican ‘no’ vote would block Mr. Blanche’s nomination from consideration by the full Senate, which could sink his confirmation”: Glenn Thrush, Devlin Barrett, Michael Gold, and Alan Feuer of The New York Times have this report.

Jeremy Roebuck, Theodoric Meyer, and Perry Stein of The Washington Post report that “Blanche insists he’s not Trump’s ‘yes-man’ as attorney general vote looms; At a contentious Senate confirmation hearing, the acting AG defended his role in the release of the Epstein files and Trump’s settlement with the IRS.”

Sadie Gurman and Richard Rubin of The Wall Street Journal report that “Blanche Seeks to Reassure Senators That ‘Anti-Weaponization’ Fund Is Dead; President’s attorney-general pick faces questioning over status of the IRS agreement as he defends his Justice Department record.”

Chris Marquette of Politico reports that “Todd Blanche’s chances of becoming attorney general could hinge on John Cornyn; The Texas Republican left Blanche’s confirmation hearing unsatisfied by what he heard.”

And in commentary, The Wall Street Journal has published an editorial titled “Todd Blanche’s Pitch for Permanent Attorney General: Could a confirmed head at the Justice Department be a stabilizing force?“

“Fifth Circuit Upholds Gun Ban for Domestic Violence Conviction”: Megan Crepeau of Bloomberg Law has this report (subscription required for full access).

You can access today’s decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit at this link.

“Slavery exhibits at the President’s House have been swapped for the Trump administration’s version; The change at the President’s House happened overnight, allowing the government to switch out the displays and shut down the television screens while avoiding public scrutiny during the takedown”: Fallon Roth and Abraham Gutman of The Philadelphia Inquirer have this report.

“A just legal system doesn’t fear examining wrongful convictions. Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court just made that harder. If our criminal legal system is truly just, one should not fear looking back to make sure the right person has been held accountable.” Zane David Memeger has this essay online at The Philadelphia Inquirer.

“When Originalism Jumped the Shark”: Linda Greenhouse has this guest essay online at The New York Times.

“In Fairbanks, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson says work ethic and determination propelled her to nation’s highest court; The Supreme Court justice drew a crowd of hundreds to an event hosted by the University of Alaska Fairbanks”: Iris Samuels of The Anchorage Daily News has this report.

And Adrian Peterson of Anchorage, Alaska’s KTUU reports that “Supreme Court Justice Jackson ends Fairbanks appearance early due to personal emergency; Justice spoke to more than 900 people at UAF before abruptly departing.”

“The See-No-Evil Supreme Court; The majority refuses to see evidence of racism”: Adam Serwer has this essay online at The Atlantic.

“Originalism and the ‘Barbara’ Dissenters; Call the Barbara dissenters wrong on the merits; But don’t call them unoriginalist”: Elias Neibart has this post at Civitas Outlook.

“Kagan Brushes Off Call for Recusal Over Climate Science Guide”: Jordan Fischer of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“Supreme Court Justices Ask Congress For More Money, Less Accountability; If the Court wants more public resources, it should show some understanding of what it owes the public in return”: Madiba K. Dennie has this essay online at Balls and Strikes.

“What the Heller? The Second Amendment has become a cudgel the left can use to attack originalism.” Josh Blackman has this post at Civitas Outlook.

“Republican Mike Lee Next in Line to Lead Senate Judiciary Panel”: Olivia Alafriz and Lillianna Byington of Bloomberg Law have this report.

“Pa. lawmakers have only days to set sentencing guidelines for felony murder cases. Hundreds of cases are on the line. In March, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that judges cannot automatically impose life-without-parole sentences for second-degree murder convictions.” Jillian Kramer and Gillian McGoldrick of The Philadelphia Inquirer have this report.

“How the Right to Trial Became a Legal Fiction; Half a century after approving coercive plea bargaining, the Supreme Court is beginning to recognize its costs”: Jacob Sullum has this post online at Reason.

“The Arts and Crafts Magnate on a Mission From God; A new book by Michael Blanding chronicles the history of Hobby Lobby and its billionaire founder’s campaign to promote conservative Christian values”: Virginia Heffernan has this book review online at The New York Times.

“Blanche to face skeptics in GOP after judge’s scathing criticism; A Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday is expected to turn contentious over the acting attorney general’s role in a deal between the Justice Department and the president over the leak of his tax returns”: Jeremy Roebuck of The Washington Post has this report.

“Lindsey Graham’s Defense of Brett Kavanaugh Told Us Everything; The senator’s infamous cry of rage spoke not only to his cruelty but also to his larger role in changing the court”: Elie Mystal has this essay online at The Nation.

“Two cheers — but not three — for Roberts and Barrett”: Edward Foley has this post at “SCOTUSblog.”

“E. Jean Carroll Receives $5.6 Million Payment From Trump in Civil Case; A federal jury found President Trump liable for sexually assaulting and defaming Ms. Carroll. He exhausted his appeals last month, prompting a judge to order that the money be paid”: Ed Shanahan and Jonah E. Bromwich of The New York Times have this report.

“The biggest Supreme Court surprises this term”: Erwin Chemerinsky has this post at “SCOTUSblog.”

“Justice Kagan Tells House Panel That ‘Threats Have Come Very Close’; In her prepared remarks, Justice Elena Kagan said the Supreme Court Police estimated a 38 percent increase in threats this year”: Ann E. Marimow of The New York Times has this report.

Julian Mark of The Washington Post reports that “Supreme Court justices seek security funds in rare congressional appearance; Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett testify before lawmakers amid escalating threats against the court.”

And Lydia Wheeler of The Wall Street Journal has a report headlined “Key Moments: Supreme Court Justices Barrett and Kagan Testify Before Congress; The high court sends delegation to present budget request and answer lawmakers’ questions for the first time since 2019.”

“Trump birthright citizenship fight comes roaring back with ‘invaders’ play after Kavanaugh roadmap; Banks uses Wong Kim Ark exceptions to deny birthright citizenship to birth tourists and children of illegal immigrants”: Charles Creitz of Fox News has this report.

“Plenty of Culture War Stuff”: You can access today’s new episode of the “Advisory Opinions” podcast via this link and on YouTube.

“Barrett Details Latest Security Scare, Threats to Supreme Court”: Suzanne Monyak of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“Saving the Court: A Millennial Civics Lesson; At a time when the Supreme Court is caught in a partisan cross-fire, an insider has written an informative and much-needed guide to the Supreme Court — in millennial-ese”: Mark Pulliam has this post at the “Religion & Liberty Online” blog of the Acton Institute.

“Ken Paxton Feuds With the Texas Appeals Court He Helped Create”: Ryan Autullo of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“The Blanche DOJ and the Attack on the Midterm Elections; His role in the Trump attack on the midterms looms large in Blanche’s confirmation hearings”: Bob Bauer has this post at the “Executive Functions” Substack site.

“‘I Am Frustrated’: Emails Show Blanche’s Role in Trump’s Retribution Campaign; The cooperation of Todd Blanche will be a flashpoint in his confirmation hearing to be attorney general on Wednesday.” Glenn Thrush of The New York Times has this report.

“Judge slams Trump’s acting AG in ‘bad faith’ IRS lawsuit; Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche was a willing participant in a scam that President Donald Trump tried to pull in federal court in Florida; He has no one to blame but himself”: Columnist Chris Brennan has this essay online at USA Today.

At the “Intelligencer” blog of New York magazine, Elie Honig has a post titled “Todd Blanche Has Run Wild With DoJ; Now He Must Answer for It.”

And online at Fox News, Mike Davis has an essay titled “Why Senate must ignore Obama judge’s attack on AG nominee Todd Blanche; Judge Kathleen Williams issued the sanctions order two days before Blanche’s confirmation hearing.”

“Justices Kagan and Barrett Testify Before House Subcommittee on Supreme Court’s 2027 Budget Request; U.S. Supreme Court justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett testify before a House Appropriations subcommittee on the Court’s 2027 budget request. The last time Supreme Court justices testified before Congress was in 2019”: C-SPAN provides the live video via this link.

“Lindsey Graham and Judicial Nominations”: Michael A. Fragoso has this post at National Review’s “Bench Memos” blog.

“Armed man asked Capitol police officer for directions to Supreme Court, police say; Officers surrounded the man after he drove up to a Capitol Building barricade with a gun on his lap, police said”: Paul Wagner of Washington, DC’s NBC4 has this report.

“Gov. Kelly chooses Johnson County judge as new Supreme Court justice”: Bryan Richardson of The Topeka Capital-Journal has this report.

And Tim Carpenter of Kansas Reflector reports that “Gov. Laura Kelly selects Johnson County judge to fill vacancy on Kansas Supreme Court; Democratic governor marks fifth appointment to state’s highest court.”

“Lindsey Graham Was Whatever Trump Asked Him to Be; The Supreme Court’s six-justice conservative supermajority probably does not exist without Lindsey Graham, who would say and do anything for an attaboy tweet from the president”: Jay Willis has this essay online at Balls and Strikes.