Tipsheet: Court watchers buzz about Breyer's possible retirement

View in your browser     Court watchers buzz about Breyer's possible retirement BY JOHN KRUZEL   The possibility of Justice Stephen Breyer’s imminent retirement is hanging over the Supreme Court as the current term enters its final weeks and Democrats cling to the slimmest of Senate majorities. With the death of liberal stalwart Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg still resonant, a number of court watchers expect that Breyer, 82, will announce his departure this summer, clearing the way for President Biden and Senate Democrats to fill his seat. Read the full story here     Justice Department ramps up Giuliani probe BY REBECCA BEITSCH AND HARPER NEIDIG   The FBI’s search of Rudy Giuliani’s office this week signals that federal law enforcement is significantly ramping up its investigation into former President Trump’s ally and onetime legal adviser. Read the full story here     Biden cancels military-funded border wall projects BY NIV ELIS   President Biden is canceling projects to build a wall along the southern border using diverted defense funds and will use some funding to counter environmental damage from the wall's construction. Read the full story here     Federal mask mandate for travel extended to September BY ALEX GANGITANO   The federal mask mandate for all transportation networks will be extended through September, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced Friday. Read the full story here       Democrats accuse GOP of new lows in culture wars BY AMIE PARNES AND ALEXANDER BOLTON   Democrats say Republicans are hitting a new low with their recent attacks on President Biden — including a false narrative about the president taking away their hamburgers.  Read the full story here     Manchin says he doesn't support DC statehood, election reform bills BY JORDAIN CARNEY   Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said on Friday that he does not support a House-passed D.C. statehood bill or a sweeping bill to overhaul federal elections. Read the full story here     Texas election poses test of Trump's power over GOP BY TAL AXELROD   A special House election in Texas on Saturday is shaping up to be the first major test of former President Trump’s sway among Republicans as the GOP fights to keep a seat in a rapidly diversifying suburban district. Read the full story here     Schumer backs Sanders push on drug prices, lowering Medicare age BY PETER SULLIVAN   Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in an interview published Friday that he supports measures to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices, as well as lowering the Medicare eligibility age and creating a public health insurance option.  Read the full story here     McConnell wants '1619 Project' removed from federal grant programs BY LEXI LONAS   Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday headed a letter sent to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona urging him to remove The New York Times's "1619 project" from federal grant programs. Read the full story here     CDC: Dozens of adverse reactions caused by anxiety, not Johnson & Johnson vaccine BY JUSTINE COLEMAN   The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has concluded that dozens of Johnson & Johnson vaccine recipients experienced adverse physical reactions because of anxiety and not the vaccine itself, according to a report published Friday.  Read the full story here     Today's special election in Texas is the Democrats' best House hope in 2021 BY MARK P. JONES   OPINION l The November 2020 U.S. House elections left House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) with a narrow 222 to 213 majority. Among the seven special House elections on the 2021 calendar to date, only one has the potential to alter the partisan balance of power in the House: the May 1 special election in Texas’s 6th Congressional District.  Read the full story here     How will we know if Biden's agenda succeeds or fails? BY NICHOLAS SARGEN   OPINION l As President Biden will find out, the easy part of governing is identifying worthy public needs; the hard part is paying for public programs and making sure they deliver on their objectives. Read the full story here     The Wall Street Journal: Rudy Giuliani’s contacts with former Ukrainian officials sought BY REBECCA BALLHAUS AND REBECCA DAVIS O'BRIEN Manhattan federal prosecutors are seeking to examine Rudy Giuliani’s communications with an array of former Ukrainian officials, people familiar with the matter said, as investigators home in on whether the former Trump lawyer’s push to remove a U.S. diplomat in Kyiv violated foreign lobbying rules. Read the full story here     The Associated Press: How the Gaetz probe grew from sex trafficking to medical pot BY MICHELLE L. PRICE AND MICHAEL BALSAMO When Rep. Matt Gaetz vacationed in the Bahamas in 2018, he was joined by a doctor who donated to his campaign and a former colleague in the Florida state legislature. Read the full story here     The New York Times: Pandemic inspector general warns of oversight breakdown BY ALAN RAPPEPORT A breakdown in the oversight of trillions of dollars of economic relief money spilled into public view on Friday night when the Treasury Department’s special inspector general for pandemic recovery said in a report that his powers to scrutinize funds had been curtailed this week after a decision by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. Read the full story here     The Washington Post: Biden administration forges new path on North Korea crisis in wake of Trump and Obama failures BY JOHN HUDSON AND ELLEN NAKASHIMA The Biden administration is charting a new course in an attempt to end North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile program, striking a balance between President Donald Trump’s grand-bargain, leader-to-leader diplomacy and President Barack Obama’s arm’s-length approach to the crisis, said U.S. officials familiar with the plan. Read the full story here     NBC News: 'Platitudes' and distance from Trump: Biden's first 100 days on world stage BY ALEXANDER SMITH In just 100 days, President Joe Biden has begun to transform America's image in the eyes of the world, recasting it in a mold of diplomacy and professionalism and undoing some of the brash, unpredictable reputation built by his predecessor. Read the full story here         Did a friend forward you this email? 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