A Nashville judge has thrown out a 3-year-old defamation case filed by former Tennessee Republican Party official Mark Winslow against U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann and his former aide, Chip Saltsman, the Times Free Press reports. The suit claimed Fleischmann obtained confidential documents about Winslow’s severance pay from the party and used the information in ads aimed at discrediting Winslow and his former boss, Robin Smith, who challenged Fleischmann in the 2010 primary. Circuit Court Judge Joe Binkley Jr. disagreed, saying the ads did not constitute defamation because Winslow was a public figure, what was said about him was substantially true and there was no proof Fleischmann or Saltsman acted out of malice.

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, has been named the ranking member, or top Democrat, on the House Constitution and Civil Justice Subcommittee, the Commercial Appeal reports. The panel has jurisdiction over constitutional amendments, constitutional rights, federal civil rights, ethics in government, medical malpractice and product liability and legal reform.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted yesterday to bar federal subsidies to Americans signing up for health insurance plans that cover abortion, the Associated Press reports. Republicans led the House in voting 227-188 for the measure that they insist is necessary to permanently bar any taxpayer dollars for abortion. The administration says that the health care law and companion executive order prohibits federal funds for abortion is sufficient. The measure "would go well beyond these safeguards by interfering with consumers' private health care choices," the White House said. News Channel 5 has the story.

The U.S. Senate today confirmed Robert Wilkins to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, marking the final step in an aggressive push from the White House and Senate Democrats to leave a mark on a key federal appeals court, the Blog of Legal Times reports. With Monday’s confirmation vote, Wilkins became the fourth Obama pick since May to take a seat on the D.C. Circuit. The appointment of Wilkins creates a vacancy on the federal trial bench in Washington.

The Senate on Thursday advanced a key judicial nominee of President Barack Obama, voting to move forward with the nomination of Robert Wilkins to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. A final vote is expected on Monday. Once confirmed, Wilkins will be the third of Obama's nominees to the court to move forward in the past month. In December, the Senate used revised rules to bypass a filibuster and confirm Patricia Millett and Cornelia Pillard to the court. The Blog of Legal Times reports.

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee today tried to renew its push to confirm a long slate of judicial nominees, but Republicans took advantage of a courtesy given the minority party to postpone consideration of nominees the first time they appear on the agenda for a vote. The 29 judges set for a vote today -- including Knoxville lawyer Pamela Reeves and Memphis attorney Sheryl H. Lipman -- will now have to wait another week for committee consideration, The Blog of Legal Times reports. Reeves is awaiting confirmation to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District, while Lipman is awaiting confirmation to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. Their nominations must be reconsidered because Republicans did not allow pending nominees to be “held over” to the new session, which began this week.

U.S. Rep. Diane Black, R-Gallatin, has been locked in a nearly two-year battle with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) over the agency’s decision to hire a public advocate who would work with immigration groups and individual immigrants, including those charged with entering the country without documentation. Black describes the office as an “illegal alien lobbyist” and accuses President Barack Obama of ignoring a provision passed by Congress to defund the position. She continues to call on the administration to eliminate the program. An ICE spokeswoman did not respond to requests to discuss the matter, according to the Tennessean.

According to a new CNN poll, two-thirds of Americans believe the 113th Congress is the worst ever, with 73 percent of respondents saying it has been a “do-nothing” body. Fewer than 60 bills have been signed into law during the first year of the 113th Congress’s two-year term, making it the least-productive Congress in at least 40 years, CNN predicts. Tennessee Republicans Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, Rep. Scott DesJarlais and Sen. Lamar Alexander weigh in on the story in the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Knoxville lawyer Pamela Reeves’ nomination to become a federal judge for East Tennessee stalled Monday night after U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander blocked a vote on dozens of appointments, Knoxnews reports. Alexander’s objection did not appear to be directed at Reeves or any particular nominee, but instead at Democrats’ decision to change Senate rules to prevent Republicans from filibustering certain court appointments. Reid had attempted to move the nominations as a group. Now he has begun scheduling votes on individual nominees. Today, that strategy worked with the Senate approving the nomination of Patricia Millett to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The Blog of Legal Times has that story.

Two members of the Tennessee congressional delegation are taking part in a court challenge to President Barack Obama’s health care reforms. Reps. Marsha Blackburn, R-Brentwood, and Phil Roe, R-Johnson City, are part of a friend-of-the-court brief that contends the various taxes in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are unconstitutional because they were added by the U.S. Senate. Under the Constitution, measures raising new revenues must originate in the House of Representatives. However, the district court that first considered the case dismissed their argument saying, “The Supreme Court has long held that … revenue bills are those that levy taxes, in the strict sense of the word, and are not bills for other purposes which may incidentally create revenue.” The Leaf Chronicle has more.