Axios

Twitter isn't the only one challenging the U.S. government's effort to unmask the person behind an anti-Trump twitter account. The ACLU has said it is representing the person behind that account and praised Twitter for fighting the government's move. Here's what ACLU attorney Nathan Freed Wessler had to say on the matter, in a statement to Axios:

The right to anonymously speak out against the government is clearly protected by the First Amendment. We are pleased to see Twitter standing up for its users' rights, and the ACLU will soon be filing documents in court on behalf of this user. To unmask an anonymous speaker online, the government must have a strong justification. But in this case the government has given no reason at all, leading to concerns that it is simply trying to stifle dissent.

The ACLU has said it will soon file papers in the case. Twitter has already filed its objections as part of a lawsuit challenging the government's position.

Hillary Clinton spoke onstage with NYT's Nicholas Kristof Thursday at the Women in the World Summit, and shared some thoughts about the election and the Trump-Russia connection. The highlights:

On the Trump Administration so far: "I don't understand the commitment to hurt so many people that this administration, this White House, seems to be pursuing."

On how she is doing: "As a person I'm okay, as an American I'm pretty worried."

On the Trump-Russia probe: "I personally favor an independent, nonpartisan investigation."

On striking Assad: "We should take out his air fields, and prevent his ability to bomb innocent people and drop sarin gas on them."

On the day after the election: "The day after the election was devastating…I had to make that decision that, yes I was going to get out of bed."

Twitter has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government to fight off a request for information about an anti-Trump account claiming to be run by US immigration officials. @ALT_USCIS, which already has 34,000 followers, and has been tweeting against President Trump's policies since January. Twitter declined to comment beyond the court document.

First Amendment: Twitter is invoking the First Amendment's free speech protection in its complaint. Twitter also claims the Customs and Border Protection agency is misusing a law meant only for cases of potentially illegal merchandise imports to get the account's information, though it's clear to the company that it has other motives.

Twitter has fought multiple government requests for information in the past, as well as gag orders preventing it from disclosing the requests themselves.

Twitter and Trump: Twitter is finding itself caught in the middle of Trump and his opponents. The president has been regularly using the service to broadcast his thoughts and to rally his supporters, so opponents have also taken to using the service.

Secretary of State Tillerson told reporters Thursday that the U.S. is prepared to lead an international effort to remove Assad from power.

Those steps are underway.— Rex Tillerson

He added that, "clearly with the acts that he has taken it would seem there would be no role for him to govern the Syrian people." His remarks echo those of President Trump who, when asked if he thinks Assad should step down, said "I think what happened in Syria is a disgrace to humanity, and he's there, and I guess he's running things, so I guess something should happen."

After weeks of "nonstop fighting," Stephen Bannon, an outspoken nationalist, called Jared Kushner a "cuck" and a "globalist" behind his back, according to several Trump officials who talked to The Daily Beast. Bannon accused Kushner of trying to push him out of the White House, one official said.

"[Steve] recently vented to us about Jared being a 'globalist' and a 'cuck'…He actually said 'cuck,' as in "cuckservative. - an administration official to The Daily Beast.

Mitt Romney has been quietly discussing the possibility of running for a Senate bid in 2018, according to six sources close to the matter who spoke with The Atlantic's McKay Coppins.

The details: Romney has reportedly been speaking with Republicans in Utah and Washington, and has made clear that he would run with sitting-Senator Orin Hatch's blessing.

What Hatch has said: "If I could get a really outstanding person to run for my position, I might very well consider [retiring]," he said, adding, "Mitt Romney would be perfect." But once that news caught on in Utah, Hatch said in a statement to The Atlantic that his comments didn't " reflect the reality of the situation."

The Trump effect: Throughout the 2016 election, Romney was a consistent (and high-profile) never-Trumper. "It would be an opportunity for Mitt to represent the Utah style of Republicanism … and present a strong challenge to the president," one senior Republican said to The Atlantic.

In a private meeting Wednesday with Senate Banking Committee members, Gary Cohn, Trump's top economic advisor, said he generally favors breaking up big US banks, per Bloomberg. In other words, the former Goldman Sachs president supports a separation between firms that trade and underwrite securities and firms that issue loans.

Quick take: The Glass-Steagall Act, passed in the Depression-era and repealed in 1999, might be coming back. With Cohn not putting up a fight against reinstating the act, there is no one left in Trump's inner circle to prevent it, per the WSJ.

Why it matters: The repeal in 1999 allowed big Wall Street firms to overtake rivals and package up several financial services into one-stop-shops. And many Americans are still frustrated over the $700 billion bailout Americans paid for the banks in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.

It's bipartisan... GOP and Democratic platforms both called for it to be reinstated in some form, and Trump called for the creation of a "21st century Glass-Steagall." But… Congress might be too entangled in current legislative issues like health care and tax reform to shift focus to this issue.

The Pentagon is presenting a series of military options — including strikes against air defenses, grounding Syrian aircraft and targeted strikes against those responsible for the recent chemical weapons attack — to the White House, per NBC News. Secretary of Defense James Mattis is expected to go over those options with Trump today at Mar-a-Lago.

The move follows reports that the U.S. actually saw a Syrian aircraft carry out the chemical weapons attack that has led President Trump to consider retaliatory military action agains the Assad regime. NBC News reported that U.S. military officials saw the aircraft on radar, and watched as the bombs were dropped.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Tillerson told reporters Thursday that the U.S. is prepared to lead an international coalition to oust Assad, and that "those steps are underway." He also noted that, "clearly with the acts that he has taken it would seem there would be no role for him to govern the Syrian people."

Trump isn't going public with any plans yet, though. He told reporters on Air Force One: "I don't want to say what I'm going to be doing with respect to Syria."

After the GOP pushed the nuclear option in the Senate today in order to confirm Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, Buzzfeed spoke to senators as tensions reached a boiling point on both sides of the aisle regarding the events over the past year surrounding Antonin Scalia's vacant seat:

I wouldn't say they stole a court seat. I would say they denied a president a year of his presidency. This is the hard part. What goes around comes around. Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein

I've got a yellow lab named Ben and an English cocker named Buster that could have led us to a better place than where we are today. Republican Sen. Bob Corker

Trump was reportedly annoyed by the SNL Cold Open skit from February that depicted Steve Bannon as the grim reaper taking over the Oval Office, a GOP source told The Daily Beast. After watching it, Trump reportedly asked:

Did you see this crap?

Why it matters: This is an example of Trump's insecurity about Bannon's perceived role in the administration and influence over his agenda, which was instrumental in Bannon's removal from the NSC.

Republican Senators have officially triggered the nuclear option on Neil Gorsuch's Supreme Court nomination.

What's happening: As expected, Democrats filibustered Gorsuch, and Republicans didn't have the 60 votes to override. They've now changed the vote threshold to confirm Gorsuch by a simple majority of 51 votes.

What's next: The Democrats might force multiple roll-call votes on the floor to prolong the process. The Senate will vote to break the filibuster with the simple majority once the nuclear option is completed. Then comes the 30 hours of additional debate before Gorsuch's final confirmation. Expect a new Supreme Court Justice confirmed sometime Friday evening. They've also changed the rules on future judicial nominees, meaning 51 votes will be sufficient for confirmation.

The final vote tallies:

• The filibuster: 55-45
• The vote to invoke nuclear option: 52-48

When President Trump was asked yesterday if he'd change his Syria policy after a chemical attack by Bashar al-Assad on Syrian civilians, his response was cryptic: "you'll see." Now, Trump has told some senior members of Congress that he's considering military action in Syria as retaliation for the attack, per CNN.

Nothing is set in stone and no decisions have been made, but Trump is reportedly leaning on Defense Secretary James Mattis regarding any potential action.

On Wednesday, Trump said his attitude toward Assad had changed, adding that the attack, which killed at least 70 civilians, "crossed a lot of lines for me. When you kill innocent children... that crosses many, many lines beyond a red line."

Donald Trump's election win hasn't just inspired some celebs to consider a run for president — others big names might be on the ballot in the 2018 mid-terms:

1. Donald Trump Jr. told members of an elite gun club that he was interested in running for governor of New York.
2. Chelsea Clinton: Although she denied the possibility of a 2020 presidential run, when asked about running for public office in general, she told CBS, "Right now, the answer is no, but I think we all need to be asking ourselves that question periodically."
3. Arnold Schwarzenegger: The Terminator is rumored to be planning a possible run for Senate in 2018, Politico reported. The former California governor has been increasingly politically active since Trump's campaign, making a video about gerrymandering that went viral on social media and criticizing Trump's tweets, budget and other moves.
4. Joe Piscopo — who came to fame in the 80's as an SNL Frank Sinatra impersonator — is considering running for governor of New Jersey, NYT reported.
5. Kid Rock: Last month, Robert Ritchie's name was floated around at the Michigan Republican Party convention as a possible Senate contender in 2018, Roll Call reported.

Ivanka Trump secretly requested a meeting with the president of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards, following her father's inauguration, Politico first reported and Axios confirmed. Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of Planned Parenthood, revealed the details of the meeting:

"The purpose of the meeting, from Cecile's point of view, was to make sure that Ivanka fully understood what Planned Parenthood does... [Richards] was explaining that the money doesn't actually go to abortions — we get reimbursed the same way a hospital does. We were clearing up misinformation about how this works."

Why it matters: While it's unclear how receptive Ivanka was to the meeting, it's known that she has influence over her father, and her willingness to try to find common ground with the organization that Republicans' want to defund could have an impact on the Trump administration's views.

After a series of high-level White House leaks portraying Steve Bannon as fed up with his job and ready to quit, Trump's chief strategist has told associates the stories are "100 percent nonsense" and he's playing for keeps.

I love a gunfight — Bannon to associates in the past 24 hours.

The Trump administration is already strategizing for the next Supreme Court vacancy by doing its best to relax 80-year-old Justice Anthony Kennedy, whom the White House views as the likeliest justice to retire next, per Politico. Trump has two connections to Kennedy that could help his plan:

• Connection #1: Trump's kids. Donald Trump Jr. is a pal of Kennedy's son, Gregory. Trump was overheard telling Kennedy at his speech to a joint session of Congress, "[My kids] love [your son], and they love him in New York."
• Connection #2: An army of Kennedy's former clerks at the Supreme Court. The administration is doing its best to mine the group for any retirement chatter. The biggest weapon: Trump's current Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, a former Kennedy clerk himself.

The huge number of vacancies throughout the top ranks of government is concentrating power in the West Wing — to Jared's benefit, and with the effect of balls getting dropped.

"Too few people are doing too much, and it's keeping the Cabinet weak," said one outside adviser to the West Wing. "In a Cabinet of people who are used to being superstars, no one has been able to negotiate to get a high-powered team in."

Operation Normal — the steady, loud accumulation of power by Jared Kushner and his allies, at the expense of the more ideological force hardline ideologues, led by Steve Bannon — keeps winning.