WTF Just Happened Today

Friday, December 10, 2021

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1/ The Supreme Court allowed abortion providers in Texas to challenge the new state law that essentially bans abortions after about six weeks. The law – the most restrictive in the country – remains in place while abortion providers challenge the law in federal court. But at the same time, the court limited which state officials could be sued by abortion providers to four licensing officials who are involved with enforcement of SB8. Separately, the court also dismissed a challenge to the law brought by the Justice Department. White House press secretary Jen Psaki, meanwhile, said Biden was “very concerned” about the ruling, which is “a reminder of how much these rights are at risk.” (NPR / CNN / New York Times / Washington Post / Politico / NBC News / ABC News / CBS News / USA Today / Associated Press)

2/ A federal appeals court rejected Trump’s effort to stop the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol from obtaining his White House records. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit unanimously denied Trump’s request to block the National Archives from releasing roughly 800 pages of Trump documents, saying Biden’s decision not to invoke executive privilege over the material outweighed Trump’s residual secrecy powers. The court said Congress had a “uniquely vital interest” in studying the events of Jan. 6 and that Biden had made a “carefully reasoned” decision that the documents were in the public interest when he declined to assert executive privilege. “On the record before us, former President Trump has provided no basis for this court to override President Biden’s judgment and the agreement and accommodations worked out between the Political Branches over these documents,” the panel concluded. The court, however, paused its ruling for two weeks so that Trump could seek a Supreme Court intervention. (Associated Press / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / New York Times / NBC News / Politico /