“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.