THE NOMINEE: Texas lame duck Republican Sen. John Cornyn may hold the vote that determines whether the full Senate ever considers the nomination of President’s Trump’s former personal lawyer Todd Blanche to become Attorney General. A single “no” vote would end the nomination.

  Cornyn grilled Blanche about the sweetheart lawsuit settlement he gave the President that included immunity from prosecution for tax returns already filed and the establishment of a $1.8 billion compensation fund for people who claim to be victims of political prosecution under the Biden Justice Department. Cornyn pointed out that after howls of outrage from Congress and the public, Trump has not agreed in writing that the compensation fund is dead.

  As Deputy Attorney General, Blanche bungled the release of files on the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. The releases were late and incomplete while revealing the names of victims and redacting the names of men who had sex with underage girls.

  Blanche is presiding over the DOJ obviously taking direction from President Trump to go after his personal enemies. The DOJ is prosecuting people accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial pool and former FBI Director James Comey for taking a picture of seashells arranged in the numbers “8647.” 

  The DOJ under Blanche issued subpoenas to NY Times reporters who wrote that the Qatar-donated 747 wants to use as Air Force One does not have all the necessary security technology.

  The question is whether Cornyn and other Republican senators will ignore all that and confirm Blanche at Trump’s direction.

THE WAR ROOM: Ukraine’s minister of defense, a 35-year-old proponent of drone warfare, was fired yesterday by President Volodymyr Zelensky. Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov is reported to have clashed with generals and military contractors over his focus on drones and robots. 

  Some of the generals want to continue grinding it out with boots on the ground.

INFINITE SCROLL:

— President Trump delivers a prime time speech tonight, content to be determined.

— An FBI evidence team yesterday worked over the drained Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool looking for proof of President Trump’s claim that the new American Flag Blue bottom coating was ruined by vandals. What was immediately obvious is that the blue bottom has changed to slimy gray-green.

— Heeding the noise on right wing media, President Trump reversed the Homeland Security decision to cease traffic stops in the pursuit of illegal immigrants following two shooting deaths in a week. Trump posted, “We CANNOT give up one of I.C.E.’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP! Once we do, we are playing right into the criminal’s hands.”

  The 25-year-old Colombian man killed by ICE Monday in Maine during a traffic stop had a legal permit to work in the US. 

— Jay Clayton, President Trump’s nominee to lead the country’s intelligence community, repeatedly dodged yesterday when Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Community asked him who won the 2020 election.

  Clayton gave the now standard answer for MAGA Republican nominees, including judges, that Joe Biden was “certified” as the winner, not that he actually won. 

  Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona expressed incredulity that Clayton was unable to disagree with Trump when he wasn’t even in the room. “Are you going to be able to disagree with him when you’re sitting across from him in the Oval Office or Situation Room?” Kelly asked.

— Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced that he is imposing an annual testosterone deficiency test for all members of the military over 30, including women. He said in a video that, “Our most decisive tactical advantage will always be the individual warfighter.” 

  Troops with low testosterone could get voluntary treatment. Women’s bodies have a fraction of the testosterone men have and there’s no treatment for women whose levels are low.

  Hegseth appears to have fallen in with the bro-culture belief that maximizing testosterone levels can boost your health and fitness.

— President Trump announced that he wants to replace immigrant truck drivers he blames for a lot of accidents with US Military veterans. “We are going to take our veterans; we’re going to teach them a lot about driving trucks,”  Trump said.

PITCH PERFECT: Argentina shocked England with two late goals assisted by their star Lionel Messi to reach their second straight World Cup finals. They meet Spain on Sunday.

  Argentina has a talent for the dramatic comeback. In games that last 90 minutes of regular time, they have  scored 11 times from the 75th minute onwards during this tournament.

THE SPIN RACK: Water rescues are underway amidst flooding along the Guadalupe River in Texas in the area where floodwaters last summer killed 25 children at Camp Mystic. —  An enormous trail of Canadian wildfire smoke has swooped into the country southeast from Ontario through the upper Midwest and into New York and the New England states. Smoke has descended on the East like a fog and the air is like Los Angeles during wildfire season. — One person died and three remain missing after a 48-foot triple decked pontoon boat loaded with 20 people rolled over and sank Tuesday in frigid San Francisco Bay. The group of friends and family were on a memorial outing to spread the ashes of a loved one in the bay.

BELOW THE FOLD: The House yesterday passed a bill to make Daylight Savings Time permanent, reviving one of those national debates like whether the country will ever go metric. It’s not certain to pass the Senate.

  President Trump has hailed the Sunshine Protection Act claiming that “Hundreds of Millions of Dollars are spent every year by people, Cities, and States, being forced to change their Clocks.”

  Not to mention that the dog gets time lag twice a year.

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