Top Eight

Your Thursday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News

Top eight CNS stories for today including two of the pivotal senators in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial crossed party lines in seeking a commitment that the president would not deputize private citizens in the future to conduct foreign policy; U.S. economic growth fell last year to the lowest level since 2016; Attorneys general from three states filed a lawsuit seeking to force the addition of the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution after Virginia became the 38th state to ratify it, and more.

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National

1.) Republican lawmakers edged ever closer to the line of outing a whistleblower within the Senate chamber on Thursday, inspiring a rare rebuke from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.

2.) Two of the pivotal senators in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial crossed party lines Thursday in seeking a commitment from the White House that the president would not deputize private citizens in the future to conduct foreign policy.

3.) The U.S. economy grew at a rate of 2.1% in the last three months of 2019, while growth for the whole year fell to the lowest level since 2016.

4.) Attorneys general from three Democrat-led states filed a federal lawsuit Thursday seeking to force the U.S. archivist to add the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution after Virginia became the 38th state to ratify it this week.

Regional

5.) Despite a near disaster in 2017 at the nation’s tallest dam, operators and regulators of California’s high-risk dams have been slow to react and plan for catastrophic failures, according to a state audit released Thursday.

6.) A federal judge in New Mexico has ruled that a Santa Fe campaign disclosure law requiring disclosure of campaign spending over $250 on a ballot issue passes constitutional muster.

International

7.) Though the political campaign surrounding Brexit focused heavily on taking back control, the United Kingdom will remain subject to the European Union’s highest court at least in the short term.

8.) Warren Buffett’s son Howard was back in El Salvador this week, doing what he likes best: giving away millions of dollars. Impressed by the new government of President Nayib Bukele, Howard Buffett is investing in El Salvadoran security and in the capital city’s nicest park.

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