The Note: Supreme Court showdown

— -- TRUMP’S FIRST 100 DAYS with ABC’s RICK KLEIN and SHUSHANNAH WALSHE

Day No. 74

THE BIG STORY: This is the week another Washington institution appears likely to discard old traditions and heighten new tensions, and it just might take another branch of government along with it. This time, President Trump’s influence is only marginal, but here’s guessing he won’t be urging cooler heads. Today’s Judiciary Committee vote to confirm Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court will, barring Senate “gang” activity, set off a chain reaction that would destroy the possibility of filibusters’ being used to block judges at any level in the Senate. The consequences of a post-“nuclear” Senate include the possibility of doing away with filibusters altogether down the road, at least in the minds of some senators. More immediately, one might expect more fiercely partisan Supreme Court nominees in the future because controlling a majority will virtually clinch confirmation in this new world. Trump’s Washington is looking less and less like what came before it.

THE SLEEPER STORY: “I am beating up on Russia,” U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley told ABC News’ Martha Raddatz on “This Week” Sunday. “[The president] has got a lot of things he's doing, but he is not stopping me from beating up on Russia.” For all the appropriate scrutiny of President Trump’s warm words for Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the active investigations of alleged ties between Trump’s campaign and Putin’s government, the question of actual policy toward Russia is set to come into sharper focus. At Haley’s United Nations, the United States takes over the rotating chairmanship of the Security Council today. And Trump closes his week with two days of meetings with President Xi Jinping of China, talks that are likely to be tense but that are happening well in advance of a presidential meeting with Putin. Trump himself is maintaining on Twitter that the “real story” is “surveillance and leakers,” presumably, surveillance of him and his associates, and leaking about them. At some point, and maybe soon, the story becomes actual policy, where the combination of Congress, investigative scrutiny and the instincts of his own appointees have the president doing virtually nothing of what he was feared he might on Russia.

THE SHINY STORY: Hatch Act violation! That was the immediate accusation after Dan Scavino Jr., the White House’s director of social media, used his “personal” Twitter account, which at the time was filled with presidential imagery, to call on the #TrumpTrain to defeat a Republican congressman in his primary. As lawyers who worked in the Bush and Obama administration agreed that this looked like a federal employee’s wading into overtly political matters in an official capacity, Scavino changed a few aspects of his profile to make it less “official” looking. Scavino might have violated the law. But does anyone think there will be meaningful consequences? (Recall that top Trump administration officials have already been warned about hyping Ivanka Trump’s product line, and about urging people to see “Lego Batman.”) Most critically, does anyone think that Scavino wasn’t acting without at least the implicit blessing of his boss, the president?

TLDR: It’s nuclear week in the Senate, as Democrats approach the number of votes they’d need to block Judge Neil Gorsuch’s nomination, a move that would likely set off a chain reaction that could kill the filibuster and lead to more partisan justices on the Supreme Court.

PHOTO OF THE DAY: The president went golfing with one of his fiercest former rivals Sunday: Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. During the 2016 primary campaign, the two went after each other hard but Sunday Paul said the two talked health care, telling reporters: “We had a great day...I think the sides are getting closer and closer together and I remain very optimistic that we will get Obamacare repealed." (Credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

NOTABLES

--JUDICIARY COMMITTEE POISED TO VOTE ON SUPREME COURT NOMINEE NEIL GORSUCH: The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on Neil Gorsuch Monday morning, likely bringing Trump's Supreme Court nominee one step closer to claiming the seat vacated by conservative Justice Antonin Scalia over a year ago. The committee, made up of 11 Republicans and just nine Democrats, is expected to easily advance Gorsuch, currently a judge on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, to the next phase of his confirmation, ABC’s ERIN DOOLEY notes. http://abcn.ws/2nRuojf

--THIRD SENATE DEMOCRAT PLEDGES TO SUPPORT TRUMP'S SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: A third Senate Democrat has announced his intention to vote for Judge Neil Gorsuch, President Trump's Supreme Court nominee. "After meeting with Judge Gorsuch, conducting a thorough review of his record, and closely following his hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, I believe that he is a qualified jurist who will base his decisions on his understanding of the law and is well-respected among his peers," Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly said in a statement. ABC's ERIN DOOLEY has more: http://abcn.ws/2oqD7dl

--IVANKA TRUMP, JARED KUSHNER WORTH UP TO $740 MILLION, PART OF AN ULTRA-WEALTHY WHITE HOUSE STAFF: Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner remain beneficiaries of a real estate and business empire worth up to $740 million even as both also hold senior roles at the White House. The financial information on the president's daughter and son-in-law is among a trove of financial disclosure forms that confirm the astounding wealth of senior staff in the White House, who have an estimated combined net worth of at least $12 billion. Among the revelations on the 54-page disclosure form by Kushner is that his wife, Ivanka, continues to hold a stake in the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., at the same time that the Trump Organization rents the hotel’s building from the federal government that now employs Ivanka, ABC’s ALEXANDER MALLIN reports. http://abcn.ws/2nLQJP2

--JARED KUSHNER IN IRAQ, US OFFICIAL SAYS: Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, is in Iraq, a U.S. official confirms. Kushner, who is married to Trump's eldest daughter, Ivanka, was invited by General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the official said. The two men are traveling together, ABC’s ERIN DOOLEY and ALEXANDER MALLIN note. http://abcn.ws/2o0WcC7

SPEED READ with ABC’s ADAM KELSEY

TRUMP, RAND PAUL HIT THE LINKS TO TALK HEALTH CARE. Just hours after President Trump tweeted that he would continue to pursue legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare, the president joined Sen. Rand Paul -- a vocal opponent of the GOP's most recent healthcare bill -- to talk politics over a round of golf. Their conversation went well, apparently, writes ABC's ERIN DOOLEY. "I think the sides are getting closer and closer together, and I remain very optimistic that we will get Obamacare repealed," said Paul. http://abcn.ws/2nM96Su

UN ENVOY NIKKI HALEY SAYS 'THERE'S NO LOVE' IN US RELATIONSHIP WITH RUSSIA. U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said "there's no love" between the United States and Russia, adding that she is "beating up" on Russia even as investigations in Washington scrutinize possible links between the country and associates of President Trump, ABC's RYAN STRUYK writes. "There's no love or anything going on with Russia right now," Haley told ABC's MARTHA RADDATZ in an interview that aired Sunday on "This Week. "They get that we're getting our strength back, that we're getting our voice back and that we're starting to lead again." http://abcn.ws/2nZiKmK

SEN. MCCAIN CALLS MICHAEL FLYNN’S REQUEST FOR IMMUNITY 'UNUSUAL.' Sen. John McCain called it "unusual" that former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn requested immunity in exchange for testimony about Russia's possible ties to him and other associates of President Trump. In a Facebook Live interview following his appearance on ABC News' “This Week" on Sunday, the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman was asked if Flynn’s immunity request could fuel suspicion that contacts between Trump associates and Russia were improper, note ABC's MOLLY NAGLE and GREG HUGHES. http://abcn.ws/2nwUaqF

RUSSIA ‘IS SUCCEEDING’ AT INFLUENCE, ELECTION INTERFERENCE AROUND WORLD, MCCAIN SAYS. Sen. John McCain said Russia is “succeeding” at exerting influence and interfering with elections around the world, with “little or no penalty.” “They're succeeding,” the Republican chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee said on “This Week” Sunday. “They’re succeeding in their dismemberment of Ukraine. They’re succeeding in exerting an enormous influence in the Middle East, which they never had before. They have succeeded in interfering with our election, and we know that they continue that in the French elections, and in other elections.” ABC's ALI DUKAKIS has more: http://abcn.ws/2oq8PaE

WHITE HOUSE DISPUTES CLAIMS THAT TRUMP AIDE'S TWEET VIOLATED FEDERAL ETHICS LAW. The White House is disputing allegations by former government lawyers that a tweet by a top Trump aide violated a federal law against government employees engaging in political activity. The tweet by social media director Dan Scavino targeted Rep. Justin Amash, a Republican member of the House Freedom Caucus and a vocal critic of President Trump. Scavino openly called for Amash's defeat in a primary, explains ABC's ALEXANDER MALLIN. http://abcn.ws/2oqijD8

SCHIFF: TRUMP'S CALLING NEWS 'FAKE' SHOULD SET OFF 'ALARM BELLS.' The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee said he disagrees with panel chairman Devin Nunes' characterization of intelligence documents he saw at the White House as pointing to potential “incidental surveillance” of President Trump and his team during the transition, reports ABC's ALEXANDER MALLIN. "I can't go into the contents of the documents," Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union." “I can say I don't agree with the chairman's characterization.” http://abcn.ws/2nZTKMe

ASH CARTER: A US PRE-EMPTIVE STRIKE ON NORTH KOREA COULD LEAD TO 'INVASION' OF SOUTH KOREA. Former Defense Secretary Ash Carter says a U.S. preemptive strike against North Korea’s nuclear-weapons program could prompt the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, to try to invade South Korea, writes ABC's JOY LIN. Carter, who served as defense secretary in the Obama administration, said on “This Week” Sunday that if the U.S. preemptively strikes North Korea, “It's quite possible that they would as a consequence of that launch … attempt an invasion of South Korea.” http://abcn.ws/2oq53y1

WHO’S TWEETING?

@lionelbarber: FT exclusive: Trump wants deal with China but declares US is ready to tackle North Korea alone — FT https://www.ft.com/content/4d9f65d6-17bd-11e7-9c35-0dd2cb31823a

@realDonaldTrump: Did Hillary Clinton ever apologize for receiving the answers to the debate? Just asking!

@tcberenson: Scooplet: Conservative judicial group runs ads thanking Democratic senators supporting Neil Gorsuch http://time.com/4722161/neil-gorsuch-democratic-support-ads/

@nytmike: EXCLUSIVE: 5 women reached settlements - 2 since Ailes left. 2 others made complaints about O'Reilly. W/@emilysteel https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/01/business/media/bill-oreilly-sexual-harassment-fox-news.html