The Jeff Sessions Perjury Standard: The attorney general held two conversations with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. during the runup to the election—something Sessions explicitly denied during his confirmation hearings. Did the nation’s top cop perjure himself? Josh Levin judges Sessions according to the standard he set for Bill Clinton in 1998.
Gay marriage in jeopardy: The Texas Supreme Court is considering a case that would allow the state to deny spousal benefits to same-sex couples. While the court is likely to evade the question, Mark Joseph Stern writes, it presents the first major legal challenge to marriage equality in the age of Trump.
A promise Trump should keep: Reihan Salam writes that if Donald Trump wants to retain his political capital, he should resist the GOP’s desire to slash the social safety net. If Trump outsources domestic policy to Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell, he’ll be setting the Democrats up for a comeback.
Weak sauce: Willa Paskin is disappointed by Feud, Ryan Murphy’s take on the iconic Joan Crawford–Bette Davis feud. For all the glamour and agony, the show somehow turns out to be insufficiently campy: “Feud unfolds in an odd register: fun-adjacent.”
For fun: Do “real men” eat their steaks well-done or rare? A probe.
Enjoying my ladies-only vegetables,
Molly
