CONVERSION THERAPY BAN SCRUTINY: A majority of the justices on the Supreme Court seem open to a challenge to Colorado's ban on conversion therapy for minors, expressing concern that it could violate free speech.
The Hill's Zach Schonfeld reports that several justices were skeptical of Colorado's argument that the ban only regulates professional conduct.
It's one of the first cases that the court heard this week as it starts its new term, which is scheduled to include cases on subjects ranging from the power of the presidency to LGBTQ issues to the role of race in elections.
This case concerns Colorado's 2019 law banning licensed medical health counselors from engaging in any "practice or treatment" that attempts to change a minor's sexual orientation or gender identity. Violating the law can yield a $5,000 fine and a suspension and stripping of the counselor's license.
But counselor Kaley Chiles contends that the law controls her free speech with patients to restrict certain views on LGBTQ rights. The state points to major medical associations that suggest conversion therapy doesn't work and can harm minors and argues the law is a permitted regulation of health care treatment.
But some justices didn't seem convinced.
"Just because they're engaged in conduct doesn't mean that their words aren't protected," Chief Justice John Roberts said.
Justice Samuel Alito said the law appeared to be "blatant viewpoint discrimination."
Schonfeld notes that the court may not strike down the law, as it could send the case back to lower courts for further proceedings on its constitutionality. The liberal justices on the court also questioned whether Chiles has standing to bring the case.
But the Colorado law's fate could have wide-ranging implications for many others across the country, as 23 states and Washington, D.C., have laws prohibiting conversion therapy for minors, according to the Movement Advancement Project.
▪ USA Today: "Demonstrators rally outside Supreme Court over conversion therapy case."
SHUTDOWN STALEMATE: The Senate decided against holding votes on competing continuing resolutions (CR) on Tuesday as both parties remain dug in on how to end the government shutdown.
Both the House-passed CR that calls for a "clean" bill keeping government funding at its current levels, backed by the GOP, and a Democratic alternative that includes an extension of expiring health care subsidies under the Affordable Care Act have failed five times.
It's now been a week since the government shut down for the first time in more than six years, and no major breakthroughs have been reached toward ending it. Senators have been consistent in their voting through each round.
The Hill's Brett Samuels reports how the White House is ramping up pressure on Democrats to cave and agree to the House-passed CR to reopen the government. The White House Office of Management and Budget issued a draft memo this week raising the possibility that furloughed government workers may not be entitled to missed checks after the shutdown ends.
That's despite federal law requiring furloughed workers to be paid once the government reopens.
While some Republican senators even expressed doubt about the administration's legal ability to go through with the threat, the memo is another part of the administration's strategy to increase the pain on Democrats while the government is shut down.
"I can tell you this: The Democrats have put a lot of people in great risk and jeopardy," Trump said during an Oval Office meeting on Tuesday.
The Hill's Mike Lillis and Al Weaver report on five ways the shutdown could end, including through public backlash, frozen paychecks or missed military paychecks. Health care factors, which Democrats are pointing to, and air traffic controller staffing issues, which are already being felt, could also help end it.
The Federal Aviation Administration has issued advisories for several airports struggling with shortages of air traffic controllers, including Hollywood Burbank Airport, Denver International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. And the number is likely to grow by the day.
But no deal on a stopgap seems on the horizon for now.
▪ NPR: Air travel problems could get worse as shutdown continues.
▪ The New York Times: Processing the shutdown in a divided country.
GOP CONCERNS WITH GUARD DEPLOYMENT: Republican senators are growing increasingly wary of Trump's use of the National Guard in major cities around the country to address crime, The Hill's Alexander Bolton reports.
Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C.), who has been among the Republicans more willing to break with Trump, said he's worried it sets "bad precedent."
"If you look at this particular issue, I don't see how you can argue that this comports with any sort of conservative view of states' rights," Tillis said.
The senator brought up his concerns during Bondi's congressional testimony Tuesday, saying the deployments are "masking the abject failure of leaders at the state and local level."
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), another Republican who more often breaks with Trump, drew a difference between when a governor requests assistance and when the federal government sends guard members in over the governors' objections.
Their comments come as Trump's most recent deployments have faced legal hurdles. U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee, blocked Trump from federalizing 200 members of the Oregon National Guard to send into Portland.
After Trump turned to the California National Guard to use instead, Immergut issued another order blocking their deployment as well.
State and local leaders have filed a lawsuit challenging Trump's deployment of the guard into Chicago, but they have been allowed to go there at least for now. The Texas National Guard was seen on the ground in the city on Tuesday.
Another Republican senator who requested anonymity told Bolton that Trump's moves to get around restrictions on his deployments raise "questions" and may not be the "best way to solve the issue." But the senator added that they believe Trump is just "poking his finger" in Democrats' eye, referring to the widespread backlash that it has fueled among Democrats.
Other senators expressed similar concerns about Trump's move but stopped short of denouncing it.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said he's not a "fan" of the deployments but added that federal authorities have "supremacy" when protecting federal property.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) pointed to Chicago's "crime problem" but said deploying the guard works better when the governor and president are working together.
"I do think the National Guard has an important role to play in natural disasters, in protecting federal personnel and federal sites. In those cases, you can justify nationalizing the guard," she said. "Generally, this should be a police and law-enforcement action. It's a complicated issue."
▪ NBC News: Former GOP governors express concern about guard deployments.
▪ NPR: "Trump's power to deploy National Guard, explained."
'SHARPIEGATE' FIGURE BACK: The Senate has confirmed Neil Jacobs as the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) years after his role in backing Trump's false claim about the direction of a hurricane.
Senators approved Jacobs's nomination narrowly in a party-line vote as part of a bloc of nominees.
Jacobs previously led the agency in an acting capacity for two years, but his most memorable moment at its helm came in 2019 as Hurricane Dorian approached the U.S. The storm came up the U.S. East Coast, but Trump claimed that the storm would hit Alabama, even though federal forecasters said it was not expected to hit there.
In a controversy that became known as "Sharpiegate," Trump showed off an altered map of the hurricane's path that included Alabama. The agency under Jacobs eventually released a statement supporting Trump's claim that Alabama could be hit by the storm, but it never was.
An internal investigation at the agency later found Jacobs violated its scientific integrity policy in releasing a statement that contradicted the National Weather Service. The probe found the statement was based on "external influence" and not science.
WALKER CONFIRMED: The Senate also confirmed Trump's nomination of Herschel Walker to become ambassador to the Bahamas.
The former professional football player-turned political candidate was also confirmed as part of the large group of nominees in the Senate.
Walker first became known for playing at the University of Georgia, where he won the Heisman Trophy and eventually his career in the NFL for more than a decade. But he entered the political arena in 2022 as the Republican nominee for Senate in Georgia, challenging Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.).
Walker won the GOP primary easily with Trump's support, but his candidacy was rocked by reports that he had years prior paid for an abortion for the mother of his child despite a strict position against allowing the procedure. He denied the allegations, but the controversy lingered around his candidacy.
The election went to a runoff and Warnock eventually won by about 3 points.
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