Document 91VLKndeRRZYqwrvDMXejEDKV

through the Senate confirmation process, the president and his team are obsessed with the next possible vacancy. The likeliest candidate is [Justice Anthony] Kennedy, who has sat at the decisive fulcrum of the most important Supreme Court cases for more than a decade. Replacing him with a reliable conservative would tip the court to the right, even if no other seat comes open under Trump - whose team has taken to exploring every imaginable line of communication to keep tabs on the justice and to make him comfortable as he ponders a potential retirement. One backchannel is the fact that Kennedy's son, Justin, knows Donald Trump, Jr. through New York real estate circles. Another is through Kennedy's other son, Gregory, and Trump's Silicon Valley adviser Peter Thiel." http://politi.co/2p4iIYj WHAT WALL STREET IS READING -- "Cohn Backs Wall Street Split of Lending, Investment Banks," by Bloomberg's Elizabeth Dexheimer: "In a private meeting with lawmakers, White House economic adviser Gary Cohn said he supports a policy that could radically reshape Wall Street's biggest firms by separating their consumer lending businesses from their investment banks ... Cohn, the ex-Goldman Sachs Group Inc. executive who is now advising President Donald Trump, said he generally favors banking going back to how it was when firms like Goldman focused on trading and underwriting securities, and companies such as Citigroup Inc. primarily issued loans ... The remarks surprised some senators and congressional aides who attended the Wednesday meeting, as they didn't expect a former top Wall Street executive to speak favorably of proposals that would force banks to dramatically rethink how they do business." https://bloom.bg/2o5Ec9E HERE'S WHAT a Capitol Hill Republican told us yesterday about Gary Cohn, Trump's chief economic adviser: "He's a liberal Democrat." This was said with a dead straight face by a person who has interacted with the former Goldman Sachs banker. -- DOSE OF REALITY, from WSJ's Peter Nicholas, Nick Timiraos and Rich Rubin on tax reform: "Much remains unsettled, and the timing is tight. One White House official said that the current August goal for a plan to pass could slip, and that it might be difficult to pass anything after December. 'If it slips to the next year, it becomes harder and harder,' the official said. 'So we're really going to push aggressively to get something done,' the official said." http://on.wsj.com/2oH2O9T TV TODAY -- JACK LEW joins Bloomberg TV's David Gura at 1 p.m. for his first interview since Trump was inaugurated. DRAMA! -- "Trump loyalists fight to survive - in his administration," by Alex Isenstadt and Andrew Restuccia: "A civil war between Donald Trump loyalists and establishment-minded Republicans is escalating throughout the federal government - and increasingly the president's allies are losing. From the State Department to the Environmental Protection Agency, a sharp dividing line has formed: Cabinet secretaries and their handpicked teams of GOP veterans are rushing to take power as Trump campaign staffers - 'originals,' as they call themselves - gripe that they're being pushed aside. In over a dozen interviews, the originals, many of whom volunteered to work for candidate Trump when few others were willing to do so, complained that they'd been shut out of meetings and targeted with career-destroying leaks. In recent weeks, a number of longtime Trump supporters have abruptly quit, saying they felt the administration had been overtaken by the same establishment they worked to defeat. The backbiting is further paralyzing federal agencies, which have been hamstrung by slow hiring, disorganization and an overall lack of direction since Trump's inauguration." http://politi.co/2oM3dVC SCOOP -- "Secret Service agent on VP's detail caught after meeting with prostitute at Maryland hotel," by CNN's Elizabeth Landers, Mary Kay Mallonee and Peter Morris: "One law enforcement source says the agent was caught after police saw him exiting the hotel. The police responded to a call from the hotel manager who became suspicious of activity in one of the rooms. The source said this was not a sting. The agent was arrested and was charged with solicitation. He then self-reported his arrest to the Secret Service." http://cnn.it/2p45pak THE JUICE ... -- FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: UNITED TALENT AGENCY is hosting a party the night before the White House Correspondents Dinner at Fiola. The agency's invite-only fete April 29, is being co-hosted by UTA Managing Director Jay Sures and Dan Abrams of Mediaite. The event is being billed as a celebration of the First Amendment and excellence in journalism. UTA represents TV broadcasters including Chuck Todd, Jake Tapper, Norah O'Donnell, Anderson Cooper, Dana Bash and Martha Raddatz, among many others. Kimball Stroud & Associates is producing the party. -- SUBJECT MATTER is adding its first Republican. The all-Democratic lobbying and public affairs firm is bringing on Jamie Wall, a former aide to GOP Missouri Sens. Roy Blunt and Kit Bond. Wall most recently worked at Honeywell International as director of global government relations and global trade coordinator. The move reflects the reality of doing business in an all-Republican controlled Washington.