“The Conservative Justices Bet Dobbs Wouldn’t Hurt Republicans Forever. They Were Right. Abortion had been a losing issue for Republicans at the ballot box. Not so in 2024.” Jay Willis has this essay online at Balls and Strikes.

“Joe Manchin’s broken promise on judicial nominations”: Law professor Robert Luther has this essay online at Washington Reporter.

“Trump nominates Rep. Matt Gaetz, outspoken ally, as attorney general; The Florida congressman would be the first U.S. attorney general in four decades who never worked as a government attorney or judge”: Perry Stein, Josh Dawsey, and Liz Goodwin of The Washington Post have this report.

Liz Goodwin of The Washington Post reports that “Trump’s Gaetz nomination sets up test of Senate Republican loyalty; Several senators said they were shocked at the nomination, raising questions about whether they will check Trump.”

Isaac Arnsdorf and Josh Dawsey of The Washington Post report that “Trump picks Gaetz and Gabbard for top jobs, daring Senate GOP to defy him; Trump’s decision to tap Matt Gaetz for attorney general, Tulsi Gabbard for intelligence and Pete Hegseth for defense will test the Republican-led Senate’s fealty to the president-elect.”

Robert Draper of The New York Times has an article headlined “Matt Gaetz, a Bomb-Thrower for the Justice Department; President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be attorney general has set a new bar for in-your-face nominations.”

Karoun Demirjian of The New York Times reports that “Senate Republicans Alarmed by Gaetz Pick as Attorney General Nominee; Many Republican senators were stunned that Representative Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida, had been chosen as the nominee, and expressed skepticism that he could secure enough votes for confirmation.”

Sadie Gurman, C. Ryan Barber, and Vivian Salama of The Wall Street Journal report that “Trump Picks Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz as Attorney General; The president-elect also said former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard would be his nominee for director of national intelligence.”

Natalie Allison, Megan Messerly, Meridith McGraw, and Lisa Kashinsky of Politico have an article headlined “Even Republicans are stunned by Trump’s Gaetz Cabinet pick: ‘Absolute gut punch’; Washington insiders are less certain than ever that the second Trump administration will be more professionalized than the first.”

And Kyle Cheney, Josh Gerstein, Erica Orden, and Betsy Woodruff Swan of Politico have an article headlined “DOJ lawyers cannot compute that Matt Gaetz could be their new boss; ‘The attorney general should not be a provocateur.’“

“Matt Gaetz Is a Bad Choice for Attorney General; He’s a nominee for those who want the law used for political revenge, and it won’t end well”: This editorial will appear in Thursday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.

“Special counsel Jack Smith plans to quit; Cannon appeal may continue; The Justice Department could drop Donald Trump from the classified document appeal but keep co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira”: Perry Stein and Spencer S. Hsu of The Washington Post have this report.

Devlin Barrett and Glenn Thrush of The New York Times report that “Jack Smith Plans to Step Down as Special Counsel Before Trump Takes Office; The prosecutor who investigated and charged Donald J. Trump plans to finish his report and leave the job before he can be fired.”

And Kyle Cheney of Politico reports that “Special counsel Jack Smith begins winding down his other Trump case; Smith is widely expected to shutter his operation ahead of Trump’s inauguration.”

“Gaetz resigns from Congress — possibly skirting long-awaited Ethics report; His resignation came the same day Donald Trump nominated him to be attorney general, but some Republicans think he had other motivations”: Olivia Beavers and Jordain Carney of Politico have this report.

“Supreme Court Seems Ready to Allow Securities Fraud Case Against Nvidia; The case, which is in an early stage, accused the giant technology company of misleading investors about its exposure to the cryptocurrency industry”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.

Justin Jouvenal of The Washington Post reports that “Supreme Court appears likely to allow securities fraud suit against Nvidia; The lawsuit alleges the chipmaker hid its dependence on sales to the volatile cryptocurrency market before a crash tanked the value of its stock.”

Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News reports that “Supreme Court Wary of Big Ruling in Nvidia Shareholder Case; Nvidia faces allegations it misled investors on crypto revenue; Some justices question whether court was right to hear appeal.”

John Kruzel and Andrew Chung of Reuters report that “US Supreme Court examines Nvidia bid to avoid securities fraud suit.”

And Kelsey Reichmann of Courthouse News Service reports that “Nvidia pushes Supreme Court to act like federal court to avoid shareholder fraud suit; The chip giant frustrated several justices who claimed Nvidia’s shifting arguments forced the high court to intrude on lower court territory.”

The U.S. Supreme Court has posted online the transcript and audio of today’s oral argument in NVIDIA Corp. v. E. Ohman J:or Fonder AB, No. 23-970.

“Legal Scholars Discuss the Influence of the Supreme Court; Jeannie Suk Gersen and Keith Whittington participate in the 2024 Election Speaker Series”: Nicola Smith of Dartmouth News has this report.

“Trump’s victory, GOP Senate win have Democrats racing to confirm judges; Republicans confirmed judges during the final weeks of Trump’s first term, but the president-elect says Democrats should not do the same”: Tobi Raji and Clara Ence Morse of The Washington Post have this report.

“Theodore Olson, conservative lawyer who backed marriage equality, dies at 84; A longtime Republican who helped George W. Bush secure the presidency, he shocked many when he worked to overturn California’s ban on same-sex marriage”: Andrew Wolfson of The Washington Post has this report.

“Trump selects Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general; The attorney general will be tasked with defending a plethora of controversial Trump policies — from immigration crackdowns to anti-abortion initiatives — that are sure to spark legal challenges”: Kyle Cheney and Erica Orden of Politico have this report.

And Anthony Adragna of Politico has an article headlined “‘Reckless pick’: Lawmakers express doubts that Gaetz can get confirmed as attorney general; ‘I think he has a zero percent shot of getting through the Senate,’ said Donald Trump ally Rep. Max Miller.”