Shane Hebel, Julia Sherman  //  4/12/17  //  Daily Update

The Government Accountability Office is investigating conflicts of interests during President Trump’s transition. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced increased enforcement of immigration offenses in the “Trump Era.” The FBI obtained a FISA warrant last summer to monitor former a Trump advisor. President Trump is seeking to dismiss a lawsuit over his Executive Order requiring agencies to repeal two rules for each new regulation.

IMMIGRATION

States can do little to prevent problematic ICE arrests, but in some cases can innovate effectively to protect human rights, argues Jennifer Chacón (Take Care). 

The Fourth Circuit's initial en banc hearing on President Trump’s revised travel ban is unusual, notes Lyle Denniston (Law News).

Trump Administration suspends reports on sanctuary cities amid questions about accuracy (The Hill).

CIVIL RIGHTS

President Trump’s appointment of Roger Severino to head the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights sparks outrage (Rewire)

• Twelve U.S. Senators asked Secretary Tom Price how Severino is qualified to lead the Office of Civil Rights given his history of discriminatory statements (Washington Blade).

The internal review of Civil Rights Division consent decrees threatens its value as an unbiased source, argues Nikolas Bowie (Take Care).

DEMOCRACY

Advocacy groups are concerned about Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ lack of commitment to protecting voting rights, observe Leah Litman and Joshua Matz (Take Care).

Despite a shift by Trump's DOJ, courts are still rooting out racial discrimination in state laws relating to districting and voter identification, writes Danielle Lang (Take Care).

Former CIA Director Michael Hayden says Russian election hacking is not an “act of war,” reports Moran Chalfant (The Hill).

JUSTICE & SAFETY

Announcing the “Trump Era,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions heralds increased enforcement of immigration offenses (U.S. News).

• The press release can be found here.
• The memo can be found here.
• This announcement will hamper “local law enforcement’s mission to serve and protect,” argues Ali Noorani (Nat’l Immigration Forum).

Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter, which relates to when a country can use force, is “largely irrelevant,” argues Josh Blackmun (Blackmun's Blog).

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

The Government Accountability Office has initiated an investigation of conflicts of interests during President Trump’s transition (The Hill).

• The letter from the GAO is here.

REGULATION

Congressional Republicans’ revocation of key Department of Labor rules increased regulatory burdens, writes Danielle D’Onfro at Take Care.

Congress should act to maximize competition before President Trump’s infrastructure plan is released, urges Chuck Goodrich (The Hill).

U.S. climate policy needs to be able to withstand changing political winds, argues Lauren Craft (Energy Intelligence).

Oil and gas companies may help environmentalists lobby for a carbon tax, writes Tina Rosenberg (NYT).

• But now is a bad time for a carbon tax, argues Patrick J. Michaels at the CATO Institute.

The Trump Administration is seeking to dismiss a lawsuit over an Executive Order requiring agencies to repeal two rules for each new regulation (The Hill).

Republicans may be close to an agreement on a new plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act (The Hill). 

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

The FBI obtained a FISA warrant to monitor a former Trump advisor, reports Ellen Nakashima, Devlin Barrett, and Adam Entous (WaPo).

Congressman urges “no unilateral change in our position on Russia” without the approval of Congress (The Hill).

And that's our update today!  Thanks for reading.  We cover a lot of ground, so our updates are inevitably a partial selection of relevant legal commentary.  

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