Tennessee Republican Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty are working with their Democratic counterparts to move separate bills through Congress. Blackburn and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, saw their Kids Online Safety Act pass through the Senate Commerce Committee unanimously this week. It will now head to the Senate floor for consideration and likely passage. The bill seeks to "provide kids and parents with tools, safeguards and transparency they need to protect against threats to children’s health and well-being online," according to Blackburn's office. Hagerty brokered a deal with House Democrats last week to pass companion legislation to a $280 billion package to accelerate U.S. chip production, streamlining the permitting process for manufacturing technologies impacting national security. 

A group of House Democrats introduced a bill yesterday to enact term limits for Supreme Court justices, The Hill reports. The legislation would authorize the president to nominate Supreme Court justices every two years — in the first and third years after a presidential election. If confirmed by the Senate, those individuals would serve a maximum 18 years on the bench. After their tenures are complete, the justices would retire from active service and assume senior status, during which time they would only hear cases if there was a vacancy, disability or disqualification on the court. Congressman Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, signed on as a sponsor of the bill. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., introduced the same measure in the Senate.

Nearly six months after he was cleared by the Senate Judiciary Committee, the appointment of Memphis attorney Andre B. Mathis to the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals remains stalled in the U.S. Senate, the Daily Memphian reports. Mathis, a partner at Butler Snow, would replace fellow Memphian Bernice Donald, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama in 2010 and plans to take senior status. He is one of 17 judicial nominees of President Joe Biden awaiting a floor vote by the Senate.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted yesterday to codify the right to same-sex and interracial marriages in federal law, Tennessee Lookout reports. The Respect for Marriage Act would require state governments to recognize marriages from other states regardless of the sex, race, ethnicity or national origin of those involved. The 267-157 bipartisan vote stemmed from concerns that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last month overturning the constitutional right to an abortion may impact other protections previously upheld by the court. Those opposed to the legislation cited Justice Samuel Alito’s pledge that nothing in the abortion decision “should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion.” Supporters cited Justice Clarence Thomas’ concurring opinion that the court should reconsider cases dealing with contraceptives, same-sex marriages and private consensual sexual relationships. On Thursday, the House is expected to take up a bill that would codify the use of contraception.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed two bills today aimed at protecting access to abortion, The Hill reports. The first bill seeks to ensure access to abortion nationwide by codifying the right into federal law. The second would protect those who travel to another state to receive an abortion if their home state prohibits the procedure, make it illegal for facilities to limit access for individuals who arrive from out of state, protect those who assist others in receiving an abortion in a state where they do not reside, and shield the interstate transportation of abortion drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration. House Democratic leadership also today announced that the body will consider legislation next week to protect access to contraceptives.

The White House held a ceremony today to celebrate the passage of new gun safety legislation, which makes it harder for young people and domestic abusers to possess firearms, encourages states to pass so called “red-flag laws” and provides billions of dollars in mental health funding. Though he lauded the rare bipartisan agreement, President Joe Biden said more needs to be done, Bloomberg News reports. Specifically, the president called on Congress to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, expand background checks, and enact laws making gun owners liable for not securing their firearms.

President Joe Biden has signed into law the most wide-ranging gun violence prevention bill passed by Congress in nearly 30 years, The Hill reports. The bill, known as the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, enhances background checks for gun purchasers between the age of 18 and 21, makes obtaining firearms through straw purchases or trafficking a federal offense, and clarifies the definition of a federally licensed firearm dealer. It allocates $750 million to help states administer red flag laws, which seek to keep guns away from people deemed a threat to themselves or others, and includes funding for mental health treatment. Finally, it closes the so-called “boyfriend loophole” by barring individuals from possessing a firearm for at least five years if they are convicted of a misdemeanor crime of violence involving a current or former romantic partner.

U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals nominee Rachel Bloomekatz, an Ohio public interest lawyer, appeared before the U.S. Senate Judiciary committee this week. She has been nominated to replace retiring Judge R. Guy Cole Jr. on the court, which hears federal appeals from several states, including Tennessee. Some Republicans questioned her past advocacy on behalf of a gun safety group and her views on youth offenders, Reuters reports. Bloomekatz told the members she would follow the U.S. Supreme Court's precedents supporting gun rights and defended her representation of criminal defendants. Bloomekatz has earned support from a number of conservatives, including members of the Federalist Society in Ohio and former Republican Supreme Court clerks who worked with her when she clerked for Justice Stephen Breyer. Cleveland.com has more on the hearing.

President Joe Biden on Thursday signed a bill that extends security protections to Supreme Court justices' immediate family members. The bill — the Supreme Court Police Parity Act of 2022 — was passed by the House earlier this week and the Senate passed the measure last month, CNN reports. It allows the families of Supreme Court justices to be covered by the security currently provided to the justices if the marshal of the Supreme Court "determines such protection is necessary," according to the text of the legislation.

An attempt to unanimously pass a bipartisan bill to shield the personal information of federal judges online failed after Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., blocked it for a third time, the Chattanooga Times Free-Press reports. The Thursday motion for unanimous consent was the second time this year that Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., has attempted that maneuver to pass the measure introduced after the murder of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas’s son at their home almost two years ago.