PAUL CLEMENT

The Supreme Court seems ready to strike down a restrictive New York gun permitting law.

On one side of upcoming Supreme Court arguments over a proposed natural gas pipeline in New Jersey are two lawyers with more than 250 arguments between them.

FILE - In this Nov. 2, 2020, file photo the Supreme Court is seen at sundown in Washington. Scott Applewhite, File)WASHINGTON – A possible expansion of gun rights is on the Supreme Court's agenda, days after mass shootings in Colorado and Georgia. The appeal comes from New York, which gun rights groups say is among eight states that make it difficult if not virtually impossible for people to get permits to carry guns in public. Unclear is whether the recent mass shootings will affect the court's consideration of the case. “The justices may be more reluctant to take a big Second Amendment case right now," Winkler said.

FILE - In this Nov. 5, 2020, file photo the Supreme Court is seen in Washington. The pending Supreme Court case on the fate of the Affordable Care Act could give the Biden administration its first opportunity to chart a new course in front of the justices. Scott Applewhite, File)WASHINGTON – The pending Supreme Court case on the fate of the Affordable Care Act could give the Biden administration its first opportunity to chart a new course in front of the justices. “The Biden administration is going to have to realize they’re making arguments to a reasonably conservative court,” he said. In one case, Trump was unhappy with the money Congress allotted for construction of a wall along the Mexican border.

Trump loyalists have filed at least 15 legal challenges in Pennsylvania alone in an effort to reclaim the state’s 20 electoral votes. In court, his lawyers must walk a precarious line between advocating for their client and upholding their professional oath. “There’s a nonzero number of people in the room,” campaign lawyer Jerome Marcus replied. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., insists the president is “100% within his rights" to look into fraud allegations and pursue his legal options. Trump aides and allies have privately admitted as much, suggesting the challenges are designed more to stoke his base.

Trump loyalists have filed at least 15 legal challenges in Pennsylvania alone in an effort to reclaim the state’s 20 electoral votes. In court, his lawyers must walk a precarious line between advocating for their client and upholding their professional oath. “There’s a nonzero number of people in the room,” campaign lawyer Jerome Marcus replied. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., insists the president is “100% within his rights" to look into fraud allegations and pursue his legal options. Trump aides and allies have privately admitted as much, suggesting the challenges are designed more to stoke his base.

Yes, the Trump administration is asking the high court to throw out the Obama-era healthcare law, and if she is confirmed quickly Barrett could be on the Supreme Court when the court hears the case. Democrats also repeatedly brought up words Barrett wrote in 2017, when she was a law professor, criticizing Chief Justice John Roberts' 2012 opinion saving the Affordable Care Act. Barrett wrote that Roberts had "pushed the Affordable Care Act beyond its plausible meaning to save the statute." But the court could simply “sever” the mandate from the law and leave the rest of the law alone. One other key observer of the case suggested the Affordable Care Act would likely stand.

Yes, the Trump administration is asking the high court to throw out the Obama-era healthcare law, and if she is confirmed quickly Barrett could be on the Supreme Court when the court hears the case. Democrats also repeatedly brought up words Barrett wrote in 2017, when she was a law professor, criticizing Chief Justice John Roberts' 2012 opinion saving the Affordable Care Act. Barrett wrote that Roberts had "pushed the Affordable Care Act beyond its plausible meaning to save the statute." But the court could simply “sever” the mandate from the law and leave the rest of the law alone. One other key observer of the case suggested the Affordable Care Act would likely stand.

In this March 26, 2009 file photo, Connecticut state Supreme Court Justice Richard Palmer, center, questions attorneys at the Connecticut Supreme Court in Hartford, Conn. Palmer, who authored the landmark Connecticut Supreme Court rulings that legalized same-sex marriage and abolished the state's death penalty, is stepping down after 27 years on the high court. (AP Photo/Bob Child, Pool)WASHINGTON The last time a Supreme Court justice announced his retirement in a presidential election year, most of the current justices were too young to vote. The nomination to replace Chief Justice Earl Warren failed in that turbulent year, and no justice has retired in an election year since. Charles Cooper, who argued the S&Ls' case at the Supreme Court, recalled that a resolution was urgently needed because scores of copy-cat cases had been clogging" court dockets for years. When Burger was chief justice, from 1969 to 1986, the court routinely kept working into July, even past Independence Day.