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Justices to Meet for 1st Time Since Leak of Draft Roe Ruling

The Supreme Court’s nine justices will gather in private Thursday for their first scheduled meeting since the leak of a draft opinion that would overrule Roe v. Wade and sharply curtail abortion rights in roughly half the states.

The meeting in the justices’ private, wood-paneled conference room could be a tense affair in a setting noted for its decorum. No one aside from the justices attends and the most junior among them, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, is responsible for taking notes.

Thursday’s conference comes at an especially fraught moment, with the future of abortion rights at stake and an investigation underway to try to find the source of the leak.

Chief Justice John Roberts last week confirmed the authenticity of the opinion, revealed by Politico, in ordering the court’s marshal to undertake an investigation.

Roberts stressed that the draft, written by Justice Samuel Alito and circulated in February, may not be the court’s final word. Supreme Court decisions are not final until they are formally issued and the outcomes in some cases changed between the justices’ initial votes shortly after arguments and the official announcement of the decisions.

That’s true of a major abortion ruling from 1992 that now is threatened, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, when Justice Anthony Kennedy initially indicated he would be part of a majority to reverse Roe but later was among five justices who affirmed the basic right of a woman to choose abortion that the court first laid out in roe in 1973.

Kennedy met privately with Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and David Souter to craft a joint opinion, with no hint to the public or even to other justices about what was going on.

“I think it’s tradition and decorum that everyone corresponds in writing about things that are in circulation,” said Megan Wold, a former law clerk to Alito. “But at the same time, there’s nothing to prevent a justice from picking up the phone to call, from visiting someone else in chambers.”

A major shift in the current abortion case seems less likely, at least partly because of the leak, abortion law experts and people on both sides of the issue said.

“I think the broad contours are very unlikely to change. To the extent the leak matters, it will make broad changes unlikely,” said Mary Ziegler, a scholar of the history of abortion at the Florida State University law school.

Sherif Gergis, a University of Notre Dame law professor who once was a law clerk for Alito, agreed. “I’ll be surprised if it changes very much,” Gergis said.

At least five votes in December

It’s not clear who leaked the opinion, or for what purpose. But Alito’s writing means that there were at least five votes in December to overrule Roe and Casey, just after the court heard arguments over a Mississippi law that would ban abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Based on their questions at arguments, Justice Clarence Thomas and former President Donald Trump’s three appointees, Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Barrett, seemed most likely to join Alito.

Roberts appeared the most inclined among the conservatives to avoid reaching a decision to overrule the landmark abortion rulings, but his questions suggested that he would at the very least vote to uphold the Mississippi law. Even that outcome would dramatically undermine abortion rights and invite states to adopt increasingly stricter limits.

If Roberts, who often prefers incremental steps in an effort to preserve the court’s legitimacy, wanted to prevent the court from overruling Roe and Casey, he’d need to pick up the vote of just one other colleague. That would be enough to deprive Alito of a majority.

The liberal justices, Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, are expected to dissent from either outcome. But no dissent, separate opinion from Roberts, or even a revised draft majority opinion has been circulated among the justices, Politico reported.

Majority opinions often change in response to friendly suggestions and barbed criticisms. The justices consider the internal back-and-forth a crucial part of their work.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg remarked that pointed criticism from her friend and ideological opposite, Justice Antonin Scalia, made her opinions better. Scalia died in 2016; Ginsburg, four years later.

The lack of any other opinions surprised some former law clerks to the justices, though Wold said it’s also true that bigger, harder cases traditionally take more time.

Spring usually ‘tense’  

Several former clerks also said they expect the leak to be discussed at the weekly meeting on Thursday, at which the justices typically finalize opinions in cases they’ve heard and choose cases to hear in the coming months. The spring normally is a tense time at the court, with major decisions looming that often reveal stark divisions and sometimes produce sharp words.

“I would be shocked if it doesn’t come up,” Wold said, adding that, given what has happened, the court would probably take additional precautions with drafts circulating in the future, including limiting who has access to them.

Kent Greenfield, a Boston University law professor who spent a year as a clerk to Souter, also speculated that the leak would be on the table Thursday. “Roberts is in a complete bind. He has to address it, but it doesn’t strike me that he has many options,” Greenfield said.
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Biden Congratulates Marcos on Philippines Election Win

U.S. President Joe Biden has congratulated Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for winning the presidential election in the Philippines.

The White House said Wednesday U.S. President Joe Biden called to congratulate Ferdinando Marcos Jr. for winning the presidential election in the Philippines. 

Marcos, who is colloquially known as “Bongbong,” claimed victory Wednesday as a near-complete initial count of votes put him far ahead of his closest challenger.

“President Biden underscored that he looks forward to working with the President-elect to continue strengthening the U.S.-Philippine Alliance, while expanding bilateral cooperation on a wide range of issues, including the fight against COVID-19, addressing the climate crisis, promoting broad-based economic growth, and respect for human rights,” the White House said in a statement.

Marcos’ father, Ferdinand, ruled the country from 1965 to 1986, and governed using martial law for nearly a decade. The elder Marcos was forced into exile at the end of his rule in a “People Power” revolution.
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US Lawmakers Fail to Pass Measure to Protect Abortion Rights

Democratic party lawmakers in the U.S. failed Wednesday to pass a measure essentially codifying the right to an abortion. The vote comes after revelations the Supreme Court is poised to overturn the landmark ruling that legalized abortion. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson reports.
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UN Chief Says Ukraine Conflict ‘Will Not Last Forever,’ But No Sign of Cease-fire Soon

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday it is clear there are “no immediate chances of a peace agreement in Ukraine,” but he pledged that the world body “will never give up” and “must always be ready to do everything we can to end this senseless war.”

Speaking in Vienna alongside Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, Guterres told reporters that the U.N. is doing what it can to save lives and facilitate evacuations and humanitarian aid.

“This war will not last forever,” Guterres said. “There will be a moment in which the peace negotiations will be on the table. There will be a moment in which I hope it will be possible to have, in line with the U.N. charter and international law, a solution for the problem.”

Ukrainian officials said the country’s forces have made gains in pushing Russian forces out of Kharkiv, a city in northeastern Ukraine that has been under attack since Russia launched its invasion in late February.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cautiously offered what he called “good news” in an address late Tuesday, saying “the occupiers are gradually being pushed away.”

“But I also want to urge all our people … not to spread excessive emotions,” Zelenskyy said. “We should not create an atmosphere of excessive moral pressure, where victories are expected weekly and even daily.”

The Ukrainian leader also tweeted his appreciation early Wednesday to the U.S. House of Representatives for approving a bill authorizing nearly $40 billion in new military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine.

The measure must still be approved by the U.S. Senate, and it includes $7 billion more than President Joe Biden asked for last week.

Biden said his administration has “nearly exhausted” his existing authority to send weapons and other military equipment from Pentagon stockpiles.

“The additional resources included in this bill will allow us to send more weapons, such as artillery, armored vehicles, and ammunition, to Ukraine,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement. “And they will help us replenish our stockpile and support U.S. troops on NATO territory.”

Britain’s defense ministry said Wednesday that Ukrainian forces have been successful in using drones to hit Russian air defenses and resupply vessels as Russia tries to reinforce a garrison on Zmiinyi Island.

The ministry highlighted the importance of the site, saying if Russia is able to consolidate its position with strategic air defense and coastal defense cruise missiles, “they could dominate the northwestern Black Sea.”

Russia launched missile attacks Tuesday on the Black Sea port of Odesa, Ukrainian officials said, as Moscow attempted to disrupt critical weapons shipments and supply lines into Ukraine in the 11th week of the grinding war.

The Ukrainian military said Russia fired seven missiles at Odesa targets, hitting a shopping center and a warehouse, killing at least one person and wounding five more.

Mayor Gennady Trukhanov visited the warehouse at daybreak and said it “had nothing in common with military infrastructure or military objects.”

Ukraine contended that some of the munitions fired at Odesa dated back to the Soviet era, making them unreliable at targeting. But a Ukrainian think tank tracking the war, the Center for Defense Strategies, said Moscow used some precision weapons against Odesa: Kinzhal, or “Dagger,” hypersonic air-to-surface missiles.

However, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters that he’d seen “no evidence to speak [of] with respect to hypersonic missiles being fired at Odesa.”

Kirby added that there has been “no impact to the flow of and shipment of materiel into Ukraine, either as a result of the strikes on Odesa or the strikes anywhere else.”

Fighting has been concentrated in eastern and southern Ukraine in recent weeks after Moscow pulled troops from elsewhere in the country, including the area surrounding the capital of Kyiv in northern Ukraine.

However, Avril Haines, the U.S. director of national intelligence, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the intelligence community assesses that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be content with capturing eastern Ukraine, if that even occurs.

“We assess President Putin is preparing for prolonged conflict in Ukraine during which he still intends to achieve goals beyond the Donbas” region, Haines said.

“We assess that President Putin’s strategic goals have probably not changed, suggesting he regards the decision in late March to refocus Russian forces on the Donbas as only a temporary shift to regain the initiative after the Russian military’s failure to capture Kyiv,” she said.

There appears to be no end near in the fighting, with inconclusive results so far, even with thousands of Russian forces and Ukrainian troops and civilians killed.

Lieutenant General Scott Berrier, the director of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, told the Senate committee that neither side is winning.

“The Russians aren’t winning, and the Ukrainians aren’t winning, and we’re at a bit of a stalemate here,” Berrier said.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Press and Reuters.
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As Midterms Loom, Biden Says Fighting Inflation ‘Top Priority’

US president presents plan to counter inflation, criticizes Republican opponents’ plan as ‘backwards’
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US House Passes $40 Billion Bill to Bolster Ukraine Against Russian Invasion

The U.S. House of Representatives approved more than $40 billion more aid for Ukraine on Tuesday, as Congress races to keep military aid flowing and boost the government in Kyiv as it grapples with the Russian invasion.

The House passed the Ukraine spending bill by 368 to 57, with every ‘no’ vote coming from Republicans. The measure now heads to the Senate, which is expected to act quickly.

President Joe Biden had asked Congress to approve an additional $33 billion in aid for Ukraine two weeks ago, but lawmakers decided to increase the military and humanitarian funding.

“This bill will protect democracy, limit Russian aggression, and strengthen our own national security, while, most importantly, supporting Ukraine,” Democratic Representative Rosa DeLauro, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, said as she urged support for the spending package.

Biden had called on Congress to move quickly so he could sign the bill into law before existing defense aid for Ukraine runs out later in May.

Some Republicans opposed the bill, criticizing Democrats for moving too quickly to send too many U.S. taxpayer dollars abroad. Biden’s fellow Democrats narrowly control Congress, but the bill will need Republican votes to get through the Senate.

Oksana Markarova, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, appealed for assistance to both Democratic and Republican senators at their weekly party lunches on Tuesday.

“It was a very heartfelt and easy to understand message: Their people are dying; they’re running out of supplies and ammunition. They need our help quickly. Thank you for all our help. Please. Speed it up,” Democratic Senator Dick Durbin said after Markarova spoke.

Republican Senator Rob Portman, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and leader of the Senate Ukraine caucus, said he expected enough Republican backing for the bill to get it through the Senate.

“I think it will pass. There will be significant Republican support,” he said.

Billions for weapons

The package includes $6 billion for security assistance, including training, equipment, weapons and support; $8.7 billion to replenish stocks of U.S. equipment sent to Ukraine, and $3.9 billion for European Command operations.

In addition, the legislation authorizes a further $11 billion in Presidential Drawdown Authority, which allows the president to authorize the transfer of articles and services from U.S. stocks without congressional approval in response to an emergency. Biden had asked for $5 billion.

It also authorizes $4 billion in Foreign Military Financing to provide support for Ukraine and other countries affected by the crisis.

The United States has rushed more than $3.5 billion worth of armaments to Ukraine since Russia invaded, including howitzers, anti-aircraft Stinger systems, anti-tank Javelin missiles, ammunition and recently disclosed “Ghost” drones.

Funds give humanitarian aid

The new aid package also includes humanitarian assistance – $5 billion to address food insecurity globally due to the conflict and nearly $9 billion for an economic support fund for Ukraine.

It provides hundreds of millions of dollars to help refugees and fund efforts to seize the assets of oligarchs linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose government has called the invasion of Ukraine a “special military operation.”

The war has killed thousands of civilians, forced millions of Ukrainians from their homes and reduced cities to rubble. Moscow has little to show for it beyond a strip of territory in the south and marginal gains in the east.
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Biden Revives WWII-Era Lend-Lease Program on Russia’s Victory Day

The program will allow Ukraine to more efficiently request weapons against Russia, just as the Lend Lease Act of 1941 helped US allies defeat Nazi Germany
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