“Trump appears to order the government to lie on behalf of tariffs; The president moves to subvert the Supreme Court — and the truth”: Columnist Fareed Zakaria has this essay online at The Washington Post.

And Clark Packard and Scott Lincicome have an essay online at The Washington Post titled “Congress courts another Trump tariffs disaster; The Sanctioning Russia Act will give the president another way to tax allies.”

“Loyalty to Trump Proves a Double-Edged Sword for Attorney General Nominee; Todd Blanche’s approach has collided with the jury-of-two reality in the Senate that has, thus far, kept him from the prize he covets: the stability and status conferred by a Senate confirmation.” Glenn Thrush of The New York Times has this report.

Michael Gold of The New York Times reports that “Trump Escalates Feud With Senate Over Blanche; The president’s comments threw the confirmation of Todd Blanche, his pick to be attorney general, further into doubt.”

And Perry Stein, Jeremy Roebuck, and Theodoric Meyer of The Washington Post have an article headlined “Why senators fear Trump’s DOJ payout fund isn’t dead, despite Blanche’s promises; Legal experts say that changes to a deal would ordinarily be put in writing, but the acting attorney general says the administration’s word should be enough.”

“The next abortion battle is over Kansas’s highest court; Voters will decide whether to replace a nearly 70-year-old appointment system with direct elections that could reshape the state Supreme Court for decades”: Patrick Marley of The Washington Post has this report.

“US Supreme Court lawyer Tom Goldstein appeals tax conviction”: David Thomas of Reuters has this report. The notice of appeal was signed by Elizabeth Prelogar.

“Houston mothers challenge Ten Commandments posters under Texas’ new parental rights amendment; The parents’ suit leverages Texas law — versus federal First Amendment arguments — in the latest legal case involving the classroom posters”: Ellie Ashby of The Texas Tribune has this report.

“Trump’s plan to keep undocumented immigrants locked up rejected by his own judicial appointee”: Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle has this report.

“Fifth Circuit Rejects Challenge to Texas No Guns Sign Law”: Jacqueline Thomsen of Bloomberg Law has this report (subscription required for full access).

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

“Trump Appeals Ruling That Bars His Use of Audit Immunity Deal”: Erik Larson of Bloomberg News has this report.

“We conclude that Virginia’s personalized license plate messages are private speech subject to First Amendment protection.” You can access today’s decision of a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit at this link.

Update: In news coverage, Joe Dodson of Courthouse News Service reports that “Fourth Circuit defines anti-cop license plate as protected private speech; The Fourth Circuit becomes the first federal appeals court to weigh whether vanity license plates are private or government speech.”

“Judges Urge DHS Lawyer to Remove Posts on ‘Worst’ of Judiciary”: Suzanne Monyak of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“The Outlandish Case Against James Comey; The prosecution’s central claim ‘would be laughable,’ one former federal judge noted, if it weren’t intended ‘to deprive a man of his liberty’”: Ruth Marcus has this essay online at The New Yorker.

And online at The Bulwark, Paul Rosenzweig has a post titled “The Comey Prosecution Is Dead; But it’s no time to rejoice.”

“Trump needles Cornyn as Blanche remains blocked; The president defended his $1.8 billion ‘anti-weaponization fund,’ which Blanche insisted this month is not moving forward”: Gregory Svirnovskiy of Politico has this report.

“Law of the Land: The Supreme Court Year in Review with Thane Rosenbaum and guests.” The 92nd Street Y, New York has posted this video on YouTube.

“Trump Targets ‘Birth Tourism’ After Birthright Citizenship Loss”: Andrew Kreighbaum and Celine Castronuovo of Bloomberg Law have this report.

“Cooking Up A Blue Plate Special: A few miscellaneous points about one of the most unusual opinions of the term.” Josh Blackman has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”

“There Are So Many Reasons to Reject Todd Blanche. Here’s Another One.” Ankush Khardori has this guest essay online at The New York Times.

“Counting All of Justice Barrett’s Votes; A look at her full voting history reveals where the justice’s conservative record is lacking”: Josh Blackman has this essay online at National Review.