Congressional Leaders Near Agreement On Spending Deal

“The motion is going to get called, okay? Does anybody doubt that? The motion will get called, and then he’s going to lose more votes than Kevin McCarthy.” — Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), quoted by the Washington Post, on joining the effort to oust Speaker Mike Johnson.

“The Supreme Court cast doubt Tuesday on the legality of obstruction charges lodged against some 300 rioters arrested for breaking into the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “The court’s conservatives questioned whether the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which was aimed at corporate accounting fraud, can be used more broadly to prosecute those who obstruct ‘any official proceeding,’ including Congress’ 2021 certification of President Biden’s election victory.”

“Voting technology company Smartmatic and the far-right network One America News said Tuesday that they had settled a defamation lawsuit stemming from the outlet’s lies about the 2020 election,” CNN reports.

Former Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) PAC has been doing some “generic non candidate specific” polling, according to financial disclosures.

Law360 reports from the second day of Donald Trump’s “hush money” criminal trial: “Trump’s head slowly dropped, his eyes closed. It jerked back upward. He adjusts himself. Then, his head droops again. He straightens up, leaning back. His head doops for a third time, he shakes his shoulders. Eyes closed still.

Comedian Rob Schneider “delivered a comedy set so off-color and off-putting to a group of prominent Republicans late last year that the host cut the performance short and later apologized to attendees,” Politico reports.