How is this relevant? Political events 02/03/22. - SCOTUS, party funding

One of the first things we should know is that Joe Biden is making his first attempt to appoint a Supreme Court justice, in the form of Ketanji Brown Jackson. You can read more about that here.

If appointed, Brown Jackson would be the first African American woman appointed to the Supreme Court. Additionally, it would take the number of women justices to four, an all time high. However, and perhaps most importantly, it would not impact the overall balance of the Supreme Court, leaving a 6-3 conservative majority, or at least a majority of 6-3 of those appointed by Republicans and tend to vote in a conservative direction. Ketanji Brown Jackson would replace outgoing justice Stephen Breyer, who was appointed by Bill Clinton. 

 In the UK, the Times reported that the Conservative Party has received a large amount of funding from so-called Russian oligarchs. Additionally, several large donors were included in an 'advisory council', which had access to the Prime Minister. This evokes memories of previous party funding scandals such as 'cash for access', where Peter Cruddas was alleged to have offered 'premier league' access to David Cameron for £250,000. I should add that all major parties have received large donations, and many Conservatives would point to donations given to Labour by unions such as Unite, which has traditionally had a lot of influence over the party. 

Links to these stories are below: Russian donations to Conservative Party, the Times, subscription required link here. Summary in the Independent here. Advisory council article here.