Nightly Brief

Your Wednesday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News

Top CNS stories for today including Senate Republicans invoked the “nuclear option” to begin the process of changing Senate rules to speed up consideration of some of President Donald Trump’s nominees, including those up for seats on federal district courts; The U.S. Secret Service has denied responsibility for an incident in which a Chinese woman gained unauthorized access to President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club; The House Judiciary Committee gave its chairman subpoena authorization to push for the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report and underlying evidence from the Russia probe, and more.

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National

1.) Invoking the so-called “nuclear option,” Senate Republicans on Wednesday began the process of changing Senate rules to speed up consideration of some of President Donald Trump’s nominees, including those up for seats on federal district courts.

2.) Saying it lacks the final word on who treks in and out of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, the U.S. Secret Service has denied responsibility for an incident in which a Chinese woman gained unauthorized access to the sprawling Palm Beach property under suspect circumstances.

3.) Pressuring the Justice Department to release the report on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, as well as underlying evidence, the House Judiciary Committee gave its chairman subpoena authorization Wednesday.

4.) Environmental groups called on the federal government to redo plans to let fishermen catch 300,000 Chinook salmon off the West Coast this year because the fish are the main food of endangered Southern Resident killer whales, which are starving toward extinction.

Regional

5.) Lori Lightfoot won Chicago’s runoff election in a landslide, and will become the city’s first black woman mayor, and the first openly gay one.

6.) A Kentucky high school senior who refuses to be immunized against chickenpox can be banned from returning to school, a state judge ruled.

7.) An Oklahoma federal jury convicted zookeeper “Joe Exotic” on all charges of trying to hire a hitman to murder a rival animal sanctuary operator in Florida and for killing five tigers under his care.

International

8.) The European Commission took the first steps Wednesday to sue Poland over new judicial disciplinary rules the commission says will make it impossible for Polish judges to be independent and free from political control.

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