“Voting mostly along party lines, the U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed former Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine to be the nation’s assistant secretary of health. She is the first openly transgender federal official to win Senate confirmation.”

+ Vanita Gupta’s confirmation to be the number three person at the DOJ has been delayed and contentious. Rachel Maddow has an idea why and shares the absolutely incredible story of the 1999 (though it seems more like 1899) Tulia, Texas arrests by a corrupt cop. Racist scandal lurks in background of Cornyn obstruction of Gupta nomination to DOJ.