Free Republic

A federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected efforts by four Democratic-leaning U.S. states to overturn former Republican President Donald Trump's decision to limit federal deductions on state and local taxes. In a 3-0 decision, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said the federal government had authority to impose a $10,000 cap on the state and local taxes that households' itemizing deductions could write off their federal returns. The decision is a defeat for New York, Connecticut, Maryland and New Jersey, which challenged the so-called SALT cap implemented as part of a $1.5 trillion tax overhaul in 2017....

A federal judge agreed to appoint the same special master from the government's case against Michael Cohen in 2018 to review whether materials seized from the homes and offices of Rudy Giuliani and Victoria Toensing are subject to attorney-client privilege....

The Senate on Monday night confirmed for the first time ever an openly gay male to serve on the federal bench. J. Paul Oetken, whom President Obama nominated in January, was voted in, 80 to 13, by the Senate to sit on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. “As the first openly gay man to be confirmed as a federal judge and to serve on the federal bench, he will be a symbol of how much we have achieved as a country in just the last few decades,” New York Democrat Sen. Chuck Schumer said...

The New York legislature has voted to impose same-sex "marriage" in New York State. But did you know that the U.S. Senate is now preparing to make that imposition permanent? True, there is no bill to accomplish this goal. Instead, the imposition will be by future court order. And the instrument chosen by Sen. Charles Schumer to do the deed is J. Paul Oetken, nominated for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. A vote to confirm this nominee is in effect a vote to subject New York by force of judicial fiat to the homosexual...