Impeachment Trial Gets Underway | SCOTUS Refuses To Fast-Track Obamacare Case
January 21, 2020
AND WE'RE OFF
|Proceedings in the Senate impeachment trial of DONALD J. TRUMP begin today, and senators are expected to spend opening day debating the rules SENATOR MITCH MCCONNELL has proposed for the trial. The Democratic impeachment managers from the House say McConnell’s rules rig the process and would “further conceal the president’s misconduct.”
SMILE FOR THE CAMERA
|“Known for his golden resume and powers of persuasion, JOHN ROBERTS was named chief justice of the United States at the age of 50. In the 15 years since, he’s hewed to his conservative roots but moved warily on some cases to shield the reputation of the Supreme Court. But that often happens behind the scenes and at a court where no cameras are allowed. Now Roberts will be in the national spotlight as never before, presiding over the Senate trial of PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP before an audience of millions.” That’s Joan Biskupic with CNN considering how the “highly visible venue of impeachment” will challenge a man who comfortably works in a “camera-free zone” just across the street from the Capitol.
SLOW YOUR ROLL
|The Supreme Court today refused to fast-track a challenge to the Affordable Care Act, turning down a motion from Democratic-led states and the House of Representatives. The motion asked justices to take on an expedited review of a 5th Circuit decision that struck down the ACA’s mandate that individuals buy health insurance. Instead, SCOTUS sent back to a lower court the question of whether the rest of the statute can stand without it.
ON DECK
|Tomorrow the Supreme Court will hear arguments about whether states violate the Constitution if they prevent religious groups from receiving some state benefits. The case comes to SCOTUS from Montana and it’s over a state program that offered a $150 tax credit for people and businesses that donate to private schools. Just after the program was launched, however, a state agency barred any of the donated money from ending up at religious schools.
DON'T YOU REMEMBER
|Demand Justice, a progressive judicial watchdog group, announced today that it plans to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a new digital ad campaign targeting Republican SENATOR SUSAN COLLINS as she seeks a fifth term in Congress. The ad campaign comes as backlash for her vote to confirm JUSTICE BRETT KAVANAUGH to the Supreme Court, and ads will target moderate voters in Maine who support abortion rights.
HOT NEW BOOK REVIEW
|Monica Yum with The New York Times takes a look at a new book that marks the 100th anniversary of the ACLU. Yum explains, “Writers and married couple Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman (a former federal public defender) have partnered with the organization to curate ‘Fight of the Century,’ in which 40 literary superstars each respond to one of the landmark cases that the ACLU either litigated or supported.”