President Joe Biden’s nomination of Memphis attorney Andre Mathis to the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals was today advanced by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Reuters reports. Lawmakers voted 12-10 to clear the way for Mathis’ nomination to be considered by the full Senate. The nomination of Mathis, a Butler Snow partner, was not supported by Tennessee Republican Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, who claim the Biden administration failed to “meaningfully consult” with them. Historically, Mathis would have needed the votes of his home state’s senators to advance, but after Republican senators during the Trump administration did away with the “blue slip” process for appellate nominees, that support is no longer necessary to move forward.

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, has asked Gov. Bill Lee to seek a federal disaster declaration for Memphis after last week’s ice storm, the Daily Memphian reports. Cohen, in a letter to Lee, wrote that an estimate from Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division shows $13 million in preliminary damage. That number is already more than the required minimum to qualify for federal disaster assistance. Cohen says several relief funds administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency could be of specific use, including the Public Assistance Grant Program for help with “debris removal, repair, replacement or restoration of disaster-damaged and publicly owned facilities.”

U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Clarksville, yesterday announced he’ll be running for a third term in that state’s newly redrawn 7th Congressional District, the Tennessean reports. "As your representative in Washington, I will work to protect the rights of Tennesseans to govern themselves," Green said. The announcement comes just days after Gov. Bill Lee signed off on a set of new Senate, House and congressional district maps. According to the new map, the 7th District will now include downtown Nashville, northwest Davidson County and western Williamson County, in addition to Stewart, Montgomery, Robertson, Houston, Dickson, Cheatham, Humphreys, Hickman, Perry, Wayne and Decatur counties and most of Benton County.

U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty announced several changes to his staff on Friday. Chief Counsel Clark Milner now will take on the added duties of senior advisor, working to advance the senator’s policy and strategic goals. Before joining the senator's staff he was deputy counsel to Gov. Bill Lee, associate deputy counsel to former Gov. Bill Haslam, an associate with Bass, Berry & Sims in Nashville, and law clerk to Judge Thomas A. Varlan of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. Milner received his law degree from the University of Tennessee. In the legislative shop, Natalie McIntyre, who has served as deputy legislative director for the last year, will now be legislative director; Lucas Da Pieve will serve as deputy legislative director and continue to supervise all appropriations requests; and Luke Pettit will serve as senior policy advisor. Read more about these and other changes at Chattanoogan.com.

Longtime Democratic Congressman Jim Cooper today announced he will not run for re-election as a Republican redistricting plan that will split Davidson County into three congressional districts moves forward, the Tennessean reports. Cooper’s announcement came less than 24 hours after the state House approved redistricting plans on a 70-26 party-line vote. Cooper, who has represented Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District for 32 years, in a statement said he “explored every possible way” to keep the General Assembly from “dismembering Nashville.” He said he chose to make the announcement now to allow others more time to campaign. The 5th District will now include parts of Davidson, Williamson and Wilson counties, along with rural Lewis, Maury and Marshall counties. “For everything there is a season, a time and place under the sun,” Cooper said. “My time in Congress is ending, but I can’t wait to start the next adventure.”

On a 26-5 party-line vote, the state Senate yesterday approved maps setting new boundaries for the state's nine congressional and 33 Senate districts. It delayed voting on a new map for House seats until Wednesday, the Tennessean reports. After the vote, Democrats hinted at a potential legal battle saying the map could dilute the voting power of minority populations and unnecessarily split up counties. Senate Minority Leader Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, said, “It's hard to imagine you don't see this in litigation at some point. I can't imagine people don't look at this and say there are legal deficiencies.” The state House is set to begin debate on the various plans on Monday.

A House Republican plan that would divide Nashville into three congressional districts yesterday passed through that chamber's Redistricting Committee despite the objections of House Democrats, the Tennessean reports. Under the plan, Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper’s 5th Congressional District would significantly shift southwest to include south Davidson County, east Williamson county and west Wilson County, in addition to covering Lewis, Maury and Marshall counties. The plan would also move northwest Davidson County into the 7th Congressional District, represented by U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Clarksville. Northeast Davidson, including most of East Nashville, would slide into the 6th Congressional District represented by U.S. Rep. John Rose, R-Cookeville. The Tennessee Democratic Party said on Twitter that it is prepared to sue over the plan, saying it denies "an entire community of shared interests a voice at the national level.” The state Senate Redistricting Committee chair also advanced two maps today – one that mirrors the map advanced by House Republicans and another that helps the Senate keep its Republican supermajority. Senate Minority Leader Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, criticized the congressional map, but was more resigned to redrawn Senate districts.

In the days following the Jan. 6, 2020, attack on the U.S. Capitol, a major theme emerged in discussions among law school deans: "Without lawyers we have no democracy.” Now 14 deans have collaborated on a book breaking down the day’s events and illustrating the role lawyers play in protecting the rule of law. Beyond Imagination? The January 6 Insurrection is being released this week (pre-order on Amazon) and includes chapters on leadership, electoral politics, racism and the role of law schools in educating attorneys committed to upholding the rule of law. The deans say they hope the book will become the foundation for new law school classes, as well as continuing legal education sessions for lawyers, Reuters reports.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland today defended the Justice Department’s (DOJ) approach to prosecuting those involved in the Jan. 6, 2020, attack on the U.S. Capitol, and signaled the potential for new charges, The Hill reports. “The actions we have taken thus far will not be our last,” he said. “The Justice Department remains committed to holding all January 6 perpetrators at any level, accountable under law, whether they were present that day, or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy.” Garland’s remarks come on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the attack and amid calls from some congressional leaders that the department should target elected leaders who may have helped fuel the attack. DOJ reports it has charged more than 725 defendants to date.

Beverly Moran, tax expert and professor emerita at Vanderbilt Law School, earlier this month testified before the U.S. House of Representatives on “The Pandora Papers and Hidden Wealth.” In her remarks to the House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee, Moran called for immediate government regulation of tax havens. The hearing was held to probe the rise of the United States as a global tax haven. Recently released documents — known as the “Pandora Papers — show “a complex web of tax havens, shell corporations and offshore accounts created for the purpose of hiding assets to avoid taxes,” the law school explains in a release about Moran’s testimony.