Your Wednesday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News
Top CNS stories for today including a new poll shows Americans are not interested in their party making any concession that would end the ongoing government shutdown; British Prime Minister Theresa May survived a vote of no confidence against her government despite a dramatic failure to get her Brexit deal past Parliament; Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler conceded during his confirmation hearing that climate change is a “huge issue” but said it is not “the greatest crisis,” and more.
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National

1.) The federal government shutdown over funding for a border wall has lasted 26 days, the longest in U.S. history, but Americans are not interested in their party making any concession that would end the impasse, according to a Pew Research Center report released Wednesday.

2.) Facing tough questions from Senate Democrats during a confirmation hearing Wednesday, Andrew Wheeler, acting administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, conceded that climate change is a “huge issue” but said it is not “the greatest crisis.”

3.) Wrapping up the confirmation hearing of Attorney General nominee William Barr, the Senate Judiciary Committee grilled several past officials Wednesday on the president’s power to control the entire executive branch.

4.) One hundred years to the day since the ratification of the 18th Amendment ushered in the Prohibition Era in the United States, an attorney for alcohol retailers on Wednesday urged the Supreme Court to invalidate a Tennessee law that imposes residency requirements on companies seeking a liquor license.
Regional

5.) An attorney for a Missouri woman allergic to grass argued before the Eighth Circuit on Wednesday that her city’s ordinance requiring her to have grass on her property is unconstitutional.

6.) A North Carolina town that rang in the New Year with a traditional “Possum Drop” has faced online criticism from animal rights advocates who say this year’s opossum was injured, prompting the town to use a stuffed animal for future celebrations.
International

7.) Despite a dramatic failure to get her Brexit deal past Parliament, British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday survived a vote of no confidence against her government brought by the opposition Labour Party.

8.) In a major, first-of-its-kind move, the European Union is setting up a European-wide prosecutor’s office that will have power to investigate and charge people for financial crimes committed against the EU.
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