Welcome to Supreme Court Brief. You'd be forgiven for not knowing that the Supreme Court was in session Tuesday, with Washington's legal press gathering in a courtroom on Third Street rather than First Street. 

Indeed, while the Supreme Court's January session rolled on Tuesday with a pair of rather low-profile cases about government fees, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia heard a historic argument about former President Donald Trump's immunity from prosecution by Special Counsel Jack Smith over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

The panel, which includes two appointees of President Joe Biden and a veteran conservative judge appointed by President George H.W. Bush, was reportedly skeptical of a Trump lawyer's bold assertion of absolute immunity for Trump's conduct in maneuvering to remain in office after his defeat in the election.