Is Reince on the Rise?

Obviously, the come-from-behind overtime win by the Patriots over (my beloved) Falcons was the biggest news from Super Bowl Sunday. But in Washington the talk this past weekend was consumed by the president's latest controversial remarks about Vladimir Putin and a judicial fight over his travel restriction executive order. There's also reason to believe that after a tumultuous start to the Trump administration, led in large part from the White House by senior counselor Steve Bannon, other forces within the administration are trying to reassert their own influence with the most powerful man in the world.

What to Expect This Week

The Trump executive order restricting travel into the United States from seven Muslim nations was suspended by a federal judge in Washington state on Friday—and, thanks to a Sunday ruling by the Ninth Circuit federal appeals court, the suspension will remain in effect, at least until sometime on Monday.

There will be more confirmation votes for Trump cabinet appointees, including an expected vote on Education secretary-designee Betsy DeVos (who will likely need Vice President Mike Pence's tiebreaking vote).

Trump—who has already tweeted his congratulations to close friends Tom Brady, Bill Bellichick, and Patriots owner Bob Kraft—probably hasn't said his last this week about New England's win in Houston.

Trump on America: "Our Country's So Innocent?"

The uproar began on Saturday, when Fox News released an excerpt from Bill O'Reilly's pre-Super Bowl interview with Donald Trump in which the veteran TV host pressed Trump to explain why he "respects" Russian president Vladimir Putin.