Friday morning docket: Pre-Turkey Day edition
THE SUPREMES: There are no oral arguments scheduled for next week. The justices will conference on Tuesday, and they may decide whether to take up the constitutional challenges to Washington D.C.’s handgun ban.
Elsewhere inside the beltway:
A bill that would create a state-based licensing system for residential mortgage originators in an effort to stem the subprime mortgage lending bust passed the House, despite some Republican opposition. (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
And President Bush isn’t too thrilled with some aspects of the bill, particularly a provision that give borrowers the right to sue firms that repackage loans. (WaPo).
Rep. Dennis Hastert, the longest-serving Republican Speaker of the House, will leave Congress before his current term is up. In his farewell address, he urged his colleagues to play nice. (Chicago Tribune)
President Bush said that Congress’ approach to judicial confirmations is “search and destroy.” (ABA Journal)
The president also announced his picks for five Justice Department posts. He has tapped Chicago federal District Judge Mark R. Filip as deputy attorney general. No word yet on a confirmation process timeline. (NYT).
Conservative jurists party like it’s their birthday. (BLT)
