Supreme conflict?

Plus: SCOTUS nomination hearings, Trump yanks an endorsement [View this email online]( [NPR Politics]( March 26, 2022 This week, we looked at Ginni Thomas' texts and the SCOTUS nomination hearings. Plus, Trump rescinds his endorsement of GOP Rep. Mo Brooks. --------------------------------------------------------------- The Big Picture: [Justice Clarence and Ginni Thomas]( Drew Angerer/Getty Images [Revelations]( that Ginni Thomas exchanged [text messages]( with then-President Donald Trump’s chief of staff urging the president to hold out and overturn the results of the 2020 election raise questions of propriety and conflicts of interest, especially when someone is the spouse of a Supreme Court justice. Thomas is the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas. Ginni Thomas is a longtime conservative political activist. She’s been controversial for a number of years, bolstering the far right in this country. The texts come as public confidence in the court is [in decline]( with its chief justice [acutely aware]( of how it is viewed as a political body, and with Clarence Thomas being one of the most conservative members of the court. These questions of conflict have been raised before — Ginni Thomas was an ardent Tea Party activist and worked against the Affordable Care Act, which, of course, has come before the Supreme Court. Generally, and perhaps especially in Washington, a spouse’s line of work is not held against the other. But when a justice’s spouse is an out-and-out supporter of overturning a democratically elected government of the United States, the perception is a little different. Already, there are [growing calls]( for Justice Thomas to recuse himself from certain election-related cases. — [Domenico Montanaro]( NPR’s senior political editor/correspondent --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- ICYMI: Top Stories Alex Wong/Getty Images Madeleine Albright dies: Madeleine Albright, the first woman to serve as U.S. secretary of state, died this week at the age of 84. [Read more about Albright’s trailblazing life and career](. Manchin to vote for KBJ: Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, a pivotal vote in the evenly divided Senate, announced [he would vote to confirm Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson](. Manchin’s support means that, if the rest of the Democratic caucus sticks together, Jackson will be confirmed to the court. Biden on Russia, Ukraine: President Biden [met with NATO allies this week about Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine](. As part of the effort, the Biden administration announced the U.S. would welcome up to 100,000 refugees fleeing from the war, and would also roll out new sanctions on Russia. False Russian biolabs conspiracy: A false Russian narrative about its invasion of Ukraine has found a receptive audience in the United States among far-right social media channels, Fox News and followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory. [Here’s how the conspiracy spread quickly overseas and in the U.S.]( Senate staffer stock ownership: An ethics advocacy group says [five senior Senate committee aides with stock holdings could be in violation of a law banning some Senate staffers from trading individual stocks](. The group says the staffers are employed by the Senate Agriculture, Banking, Armed Services, Finance and Commerce committees. Trump yanks endorsement: GOP Rep. Mo Brooks has been a stalwart supporter of former President Donald Trump, even speaking at the rally before the Jan. 6 insurrection. But Brooks has been struggling in the Alabama Senate race, and [Trump this week rescinded his endorsement of Brooks](. — [Brandon Carter]( NPR Politics social media producer The Shot: Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images The Senate Judiciary Committee wrapped up four days of historic confirmation hearings this week for Ketanji Brown Jackson. If confirmed, Jackson would be the first Black woman to join the Supreme Court. She was joined in the committee room by her family — her parents as well as her husband and two daughters — during days of intense grilling by GOP members. [Here's a look at moments throughout the week]( as the panel considered the nomination. — [Heidi Glenn]( NPR digital editor --------------------------------------------------------------- Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. 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