Hetali Lodaya  //  4/2/19  //  Daily Update

The success of a lawsuit filed by Trump’s lawyers for declaratory, monetary, and injunctive relief against the producers of a new TV show, Are You Smarter Than Donald Trump? will depend on whether it is taken as satire. The House Judiciary Committee will vote Wednesday on whether to subpoena the full Mueller Report. Visa denials are on the rise under the Trump Administration. The Mattis policy regarding transgender persons in the military will go into effect on Friday, April 12. A whistleblower within the White House Personnel Security Office has come forward with a list of 25 individuals who were issued denials for security clearance that were subsequently overturned by the White House.

TRUMP: INVESTIGATIONS AND LITIGATION

The success of a lawsuit filed by Trump’s lawyers for declaratory, monetary, and injunctive relief against the producers of a new TV show, Are You Smarter Than Donald Trump? will depend on whether it is taken as satire, writes Michael Dorf at Dorf on Law.

Democratic lawmakers are worried that the Mueller Report’s findings could end up expanding the scope of executive power. (The Hill) 

The Reporter’s Committee for Freedom of the Press filed a FOIA request for any grand jury materials “cited, quoted, or referenced” in the Mueller report. (The Hill, Lawfare, The Volokh Conspiracy)

• Barr’s choice to withhold grand jury materials may result in backlash from Congress and the public, argues Barbara McQuade at Just Security.

The House Judiciary Committee will vote Wednesday on whether to subpoena the full Mueller Report. (WaPo)

• Congress is entitled to the full report under the law and should ask for it, argues Nelson Cunningham at Politico.

IMMIGRATION

Visa denials are on the rise under the Trump Administration. (ImmigrationProf Blog)

CIVIL RIGHTS

The Mattis policy regarding transgender persons in the military will go into effect on Friday, April 12. (Just Security)

• In defending this policy, the Trump Administration is recycling arguments that have previously been used to justify discriminatory government actions, argue Leah Litman and Hetali Lodaya at Take Care.

DEMOCRACY 

Previous cases may give some indication as to how particular Justices will vote when the Court hears the 2020 Census citizenship question case later this month, writes Mark Walsh at ABA Journal.

• The President says the Census is “meaningless” without the citizenship question. (Politico)
• If the Supreme Court properly interprets the relevant Constitutional and administrative provisions, they should hold that the question does not belong on the Census, argues David H. Gans at the Constitutional Accountability Center.

Cutting funding to three Central American countries is directly contrary to the convention wisdom of years in Washington about how to tackle the root causes of migration, writes Elisabeth Malkin at The New York Times.

• In fact, it is likely to drive immigration to the United States up, argue Anita Isaacs and Anne Preston at The New York Times.

REGULATION 

One President can only have so much deregulatory effect, argues Bridget C.E. Dooling at Notice & Comment.

CHECKS & BALANCES

A whistleblower within the White House Personnel Security Office has come forward with a list of 25 individuals who were issued denials for security clearance that were subsequently overturned by the White House. (Lawfare, Politico)

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE 

The U.S. is similarly exposed to interference ahead of the 2020 elections as it was in 2016, write Courtney Wraver and Kiran Stacey at the Financial Times.

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