“George W. Bush’s Dashed Hopes; Wrapping up judicial confirmations in his first term”: Ed Whelan has this post at his “Confirmation Tales” Substack site.

“Republicans have a chance to transform the Pa. Supreme Court this year”: Stephen Caruso of Spotlight PA and Carter Walker of Votebeat have this report.

“NC Supreme Court won’t fast-track lawsuit challenging 60K ballots in race for one of its own seats; Republican Jefferson Griffin wants his case to be heard by the state Court of Appeals, while Democrat Allison Riggs and the State Board of Elections wanted to bring it directly to the Supreme Court; The Supreme Court sided with Griffin on taking the slower route”: Will Doran of WRAL has this report.

“An election for a single state Supreme Court seat becomes the ‘blockbuster’ political fight of 2025”: Fredreka Schouten and Arlette Saenz of CNN have this report.

And Theodore Schleifer and Reid J. Epstein of The New York Times report that “Musk and His Millions Enter Wisconsin Supreme Court Race; Elon Musk’s super PAC has spent $1 million on canvassing operations supporting the conservative candidate in the race, his first election spending after the 2024 campaign.”

“Professors’ Paper Explains How a Handful of Elite Lawyers Dominates Supreme Court Litigation; Mitu Gulati Explores Numbers Behind ‘Tournament of Champions’”: Mary Wood of the University of Virginia School of Law has this report.

You can access the paper via this link.

“Supreme Court Rejects, for Now, Trump’s Bid to Fire Government Watchdog; The court’s order indicated that it may return to the issue as soon as next week, when a trial judge’s temporary restraining order is set to expire”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.

Ann E. Marimow of The Washington Post reports that “Supreme Court delays decision on Trump’s firing of watchdog agency leader; A lower court said Hampton Dellinger could continue serving as head of the Office of Special Counsel while litigation over his firing continues.”

David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times reports that “Justices turn away — for now — Trump’s appeal seeking to fire head whistleblower protection official.”

Maureen Groppe of USA Today reports that “Supreme Court declines Trump’s emergency bid to immediately fire head of watchdog agency.”

And Stephen Dinan of The Washington Times reports that “Supreme Court rebuffs Trump’s attempt to oust special counsel — for now.”

You can access this evening’s order of the U.S. Supreme Court at this link.

“Who Is Paul Clement, the Lawyer Appointed to Help Judge in Adams Case? A former solicitor general, Mr. Clement has argued over 100 cases before the Supreme Court; Now he will present independent arguments as a judge decides whether to drop the charges against the mayor.” Santul Nerkar of The New York Times has this report.

“This Spending Fight Is Actually About the Constitution; With unilateral freezes and cuts, Trump is testing how far he can encroach on Congress’s power of the purse”: Columnist Greg Ip has this essay online at The Wall Street Journal.

“Trump Is Making It Harder for the Supreme Court to Side With Him; A haphazard approach makes it more likely the Supreme Court rules against him”: Ankush Khardori has this essay online at Politico Magazine.

“Judge Defers Ruling in Adams Case, Appointing Lawyer to Guide Decision; Judge Dale E. Ho said that with Eric Adams’s lawyer and federal prosecutors agreeing to end the case, he needed to hear independent arguments”: Benjamin Weiser of The New York Times has this report.

Jeremy Roebuck and Shayna Jacobs of The Washington Post report that “Judge refuses for now to drop Adams charges, appoints outside lawyer; Paul Clement, a former U.S. solicitor general, will examine the Justice Department’s decision to dismiss the bribery case against the New York mayor.”

James Fanelli and Corinne Ramey of The Wall Street Journal report that “Judge Holds Off on Dismissing Case Against New York Mayor Eric Adams; Top lawyer appointed to argue against Justice Department’s motion to drop bribery charges.”

And Erica Orden of Politico reports that “Judge taps top Supreme Court lawyer to present ‘adversarial’ arguments on DOJ’s bid to drop Eric Adams case; The judge said the appointment of an outside lawyer will ‘assist the court’s decision-making.’”

You can access today’s order of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York at this link.

“Mastering the Art of Persuasion: What Top Appellate Lawyers Do Differently; A well-crafted legal brief can sway a judge — while a poorly written one feels like hacking through a jungle with a machete; What sets elite appellate advocates apart?” Adam Feldman has this post at his “Legalytics” Substack site.

“Only the Supreme Court Can Stop an Unprecedented Power Grab; This is not the time to give more unchecked power to a president contemptuous of the rule of law”: Law professor Noah Feldman has this essay online at Bloomberg Opinion.

“Anti-DEI push could get a boon from Supreme Court ‘reverse discrimination’ case; If the high court lowers the standard for discrimination claims from people in majority groups, employment experts said companies could have a harder time defending diversity programs”: Kelsey Reichmann of Courthouse News Service has this report.

“Michigan Chief Justice’s Exit Fortifies Court’s Leftward Swing; Governor’s pick will cement a Democratic-backed majority; Recent changes are part of larger swing, court watchers say”: Eric Heisig of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“South Carolina Death Row Inmate Chooses to Be Executed by a Firing Squad; The state has never used that method to execute a prisoner; The last time an inmate was killed by a firing squad was in 2010 in Utah”: Eduardo Medina of The New York Times has this report.

“CT Supreme Court in Hartford evacuated after museum staff finds WW1 artillery shells, officials say”: Josh LaBella of CT Insider has this report.

“Luigi Mangione’s Lawyer Says Accused Healthcare CEO Killer Being Treated Unfairly; No trial date set yet in Manhattan state court proceedings, one of three criminal cases against the 26-year old”: Corinne Ramey of The Wall Street Journal has this report.

Hurubie Meko of The New York Times reports that “Suspect in Insurance C.E.O. Killing Creates Website as Support Floods In; Luigi Mangione faced a hearing on Friday as supporters planned a rally outside a Manhattan courthouse; Some Americans have found a hero in the man accused of vigilante murder.”

And Patricia Hurtado and David Voreacos of Bloomberg News report that “Luigi Mangione’s Lawyer Says US Still Weighing Death Penalty for Murder; Mangione pleaded not guilty to killing UnitedHealth executive; Defense lawyer says state, federal charges are ‘inconsistent.’“

“Justice Department broadens Trump’s Jan. 6 clemency as it moves to drop gun cases; In court papers, DOJ revealed a newly expansive interpretation of the president’s Jan. 6 pardons”: Kyle Cheney of Politico has a report that begins, “The Justice Department now says that President Donald Trump’s clemency for Jan. 6 rioters covers unrelated crimes that were discovered during FBI searches stemming from the attack on the Capitol.”