“Did a Supreme Court Loss Embolden Trump on the Insurrection Act? In refusing to let the president deploy National Guard troops in Illinois under an obscure law, the justices may have made him more apt to invoke greater powers.” Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this news analysis.

“Goldstein’s Tax Trial Kicks Off with Two Very Different Tales”: Holly Barker of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“Bonus 202: Searching Reporters’ Homes; Wednesday’s search of a Washington Post reporter’s home implicates a series of open questions about when, and to what extent, journalists can themselves be targets or suspects in leak investigations.” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.

“When is a Corporation Also New Jersey? A few thoughts on the oral argument in Galette v. N.J. Transit Corp.” William Baude and Stephen E. Sachs have this post at the “Divided Argument” Substack site.

“Conservatives On X Are Pretty Sure Amy Coney Barrett Is Woke Now; The author of the perhaps the most aggressively anti-trans Supreme Court opinion in recent memory is getting branded as an ideological traitor who ignores ‘biological truth’”: Jay Willis has this post at his “Balls & Strikes” Substack site.

In related commentary, online at Balls and Strikes, Willis has an essay titled “How the Conservative Movement’s Anti-Trans Crusade Brought the Supreme Court to Heel; Six years ago, the Court issued a landmark decision protecting the civil rights of trans people; Republicans set about making sure that that would never happen again.”

And Madiba K. Dennie has an essay titled “John Roberts Wouldn’t Recognize an Anti-Trans Law If It Slapped Him in the Face; Last year, the chief justice wrote that banning healthcare for trans kids doesn’t discriminate against trans people; In the trans sports ban cases, he’s ready to look the other way again.”

“SCOTUSblog Publisher Tom Goldstein’s Criminal Jury Trial Begins in Maryland Federal Court; Tom Goldstein, the heavyweight appellate attorney who argued more than 40 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, denies all charges in his criminal jury trial in Maryland federal court alleging he committed tax crimes and mortgage fraud while amassing large gambling debts”: Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman of The National Law Journal has this report.

“Why Is Congress Funding the Judiciary’s Support for Climate Plaintiffs?” Michael A. Fragoso has this post at the “Bench Memos” blog of National Review.

“US Congress Covid Proxy Vote Gets Full Fifth Circuit Review”: Ryan Autullo of Bloomberg Law has this report (subscription required for full access).

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

“Why Stop at Level Three? Discretion to pose the question in Trump v. Illinois and elsewhere.” William Baude has this post at the “Divided Argument” Substack site.

“7 Predictions For The Legal World In 2026: SCOTUS retirements, $10 million in profits per partner, Trump v. Biglaw, Kirkland v. Wachtell — whatever it ends up being, the year ahead won’t be boring.” David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.

“Washington lawyer Tom Goldstein accused at trial of hiding huge poker earnings”: Mike Scarcella of Reuters has this report.

“Supreme Court allows Illinois congressman to challenge mail-in balloting; The high court’s 7-2 ruling dealt with the narrow question of whether Republican congressman Michael Bost and others had standing to sue”: Justin Jouvenal and Patrick Marley of The Washington Post have this report.

“The Judge in the Maduro Case Is 92. All Eyes Will Be on His Stamina. Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein was seen drifting in and out of sleep in court last year. The case of Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan leader, will test his endurance.” Santul Nerkar of The New York Times has this report.

“Washington lawyer Tom Goldstein accused of hiding millions in poker earnings as trial begins”: Mike Scarcella of Reuters has this report.

“Appeals Court Opens the Door to Mahmoud Khalil’s Rearrest; Any new detention would not come immediately, and Mr. Khalil’s lawyers are almost certain to appeal; But the ruling is a major blow to Mr. Khalil, a Columbia graduate and prominent figure in the pro-Palestinian movement”: Jonah E. Bromwich of The New York Times has this report.

You can access today’s per curiam decision of a partially divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit at this link.