Tuesday Morning Minute: Law Nerds Unite!

Tuesday, March 25, 2025

Good morning, and welcome to RedState's "Morning Minute" — a brief glimpse at which stories are trending at the moment and a look ahead at what the day may bring. Consider this your one-stop shop for news to kickstart your day.

TOP O' THE MORNIN'

Red-Hot at RedState

Is It a Sign? Huge Numbers of American Bald Eagles Come Together on Frozen Midwestern Lake

That's environmentalism done right; get the job done, without the extremism.

Tlaib Faces Backlash for Comment on Airstrikes Against Houthis: ‘They’re Bombing Terrorists, Rashida’

Representative Tlaib is one of the most anti-American members of Congress today. Her behavior has far exceeded censure levels. It's time for expulsion.

Complaint: LA County Public Health's Ferrer Oversaw Retaliation Against Contract Fraud Whistleblower

One big target for DOGE should be the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LADPH) and how it's used (or misused) federal dollars.

Trending Across Townhall Media

This Is What I Meant When I Said Things Were Getting Ugly

Notify the authorities if you see anything that looks out of place, particularly around Tesla dealerships, but not just there. I suspect that, in time, we'll see this sort of thing spread.

UK Military Revolting Against Starmer Ukraine Plan?

A good parent would invite that child to leave home and prove that, indeed, they know better than the old fogies. Show us, Keir, don't tell us.

9th Circuit Leftists Triggered When Judge Uses Gun to Show How Clueless Their Anti-Gun Decision Is

I’d like to be in the courtroom for oral arguments just to watch Clarence Thomas’s face reacting to this nuttery.

Neil Gorsuch's Former Law Clerk Cooks Judge Who's Screwing Around With Trump's Deportation Flights

It still doesn’t negate the days of judicial overreach and insanity from Boasberg, who thought he was the executive, or at least in charge of deportation policy.

Columbia SJP’s Instagram Wakes Up Three Minutes Before Oct 7th Attack—Talk About Suspicious Timing

Always, follow the money.

WHAT'S ON TAP?

Today on Capitol Hill...

Lots of hearings set for Tuesday on Capitol Hill, but the big one will be before the Senate Intelligence Committee beginning at 10:00 a.m. Eastern. It's titled "Hearings to examine worldwide threats" and features DNI Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, NSA Director Timothy Haugh, and DIA Director Jeffrey Kruse. Expect there to be some rather intense scrutiny of how these officials communicate with one another and Monday's infamous story in The Atlantic. We'll for certain be watching.

Other hearings/meetings set for Tuesday include:

Senate Finance — Business meeting to consider the nomination of Mehmet Oz, of Pennsylvania, to be Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (could be chippy given Sen. Josh Hawley's (R-MO) skepticism re: Oz)
House Homeland Security, Border Security and Enforcement Subcommittee — “Part 1: Consequences of Failure: How Biden's Policies Fueled the Border Crisis”
House Transportation and Infrastructure, Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Subcommittee — "Reforming FEMA: Bringing Common Sense Back to Federal Emergency Management"
House Foreign Affairs, Africa Subcommittee — Metals, Minerals, and Mining: How the CCP Fuels Conflict and Exploitation in Africa
House Foreign Affairs, Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee — Streamlined and Rightsized: Consolidating State Department Administrative Services
Senate Foreign Relations — Hearings to examine the nominations of Reed Rubinstein, of Maryland, to be Legal Adviser, Mike Huckabee, of Arkansas, to be Ambassador to the State of Israel, and Kevin Cabrera, of Florida, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Panama, all of the Department of State
Senate Finance — Hearings to examine the nomination of Frank Bisignano, of New Jersey, to be Commissioner of Social Security Administration for the term expiring January 19, 2031
House Energy and Commerce, Energy Subcommittee — “Keeping the Lights On: Examining the State of Regional Grid Reliability”
House Appropriations, Legislative Branch Subcommittee — Oversight Hearing – Capitol Complex Public Safety and Security
Senate Judiciary, Constitution Subcommittee — Hearings to examine the censorship industrial complex

White House What's Up

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance are set to have lunch Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. Eastern. Later in the afternoon, Trump will sign executive orders.

Full Court Press...

The Supreme Court again has three cases set for oral argument, with two being consolidated — it's EPA Venue Day!

EPA v. Calumet Shreveport Refining — In a pair of final actions, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) denied 105 petitions filed by small oil refineries seeking exemptions from the requirements of the Clean Air Act's Renewable Fuel Standard program. Six of those refineries petitioned for review of EPA's decisions in the Fifth Circuit, which denied the government's motion for transfer to the D.C. Circuit. The question presented is as follows: Whether venue for the refineries' challenges lies exclusively in the D.C. Circuit because the agency's denial actions are "nationally applicable" or, alternatively, are "based on a determination of nationwide scope or effect." 42 U.S.C. 7607(b)(1).
Oklahoma v. EPA/Pacificorp v. EPA — Whether a final action by EPA taken pursuant to its Clean Air Act authority with respect to a single state or region may be challenged only in the D.C. Circuit because EPA published the action in the same Federal Register notice as actions affecting other states or regions and claimed to use a consistent analysis for all states.

Judge Boasberg denied the government's motion to vacate his TRO in the TdA case on Monday. Meanwhile, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral argument on the government's motion to stay Boasberg's TRO.

COMING ATTRACTIONS

The House Intelligence Committee will get its own crack at worldwide threat assessment on Wednesday, with the same witnesses (plus FBI Director Kash Patel) set to testify before that committee as well.

MORNING MUSING

I've copped to it before: I'm a law nerd. Just because I'm not still actively practicing and am focusing instead on feeding my political junkie habit, that doesn't mean I don't still love the law and following along with the multitude of intriguing legal battles and writing on them when I get the chance. I also still love learning about the law. (Even those educated at top-tier law schools don't emerge from them knowing everything there is to know about the law — or even all that much about it at all. That comes from years of experience, and there's always more to learn.) For my fellow law nerds — or just those who have a keen interest in the ongoing TdA saga — I have a treat: Two of our sometime columnists, Leslie McAdoo Gordon and Shipwreckedcrew, hosted a Space on X Monday night to discuss the case, and I found it highly informative. If you're so inclined, check it out here.