Sarah Mahmood,  //  4/25/17  //  Daily Update

A government shut down is on the horizon, pending the upcoming fight over funding for the border wall. The State Department promotes Mar-a-Lago in a blog post. Another ballistic missile test by North Korea sparks debate over how to appropriately respond. And net neutrality rules set for a complete overhaul.

IMMIGRATION

 Funding for the border wall looms over negotiations for the government spending bill (WaPo) (NYT) (Politico).

• The budget for the border wall relies on unrealistically cheap construction costs and “outrageous estimates” on the number of illegal immigrants it will deter, according to Alex Nowrasteh and David Bier at Cato at Liberty.

In a lawsuit in the Fourth Circuit over searching electronic devices at the border, the Department of Justice (DOJ) argues that a warrant is unnecessary.

•  The DOJ brief can be found here.

By enforcing the order against sanctuary cities, the DOJ undermines its legal claim that there is no credible threat the government will withhold federal funds, Nikolas Bowie writes for Take Care.

• Contrary to the Administration’s rhetoric, there is substantial evidence that sanctuary cities are safer, argues Melissa Turcios for ACS legal blog.

Attorney General Sessions takes a tougher stance on ‘dreamers’ than President Trump. (ABAJournal).

• Anti-Immigration activists enact their agenda within the Administration. (NYT).

Take Care provides an overview of the Amicus briefs in the Travel Ban Cases here.

Asking about immigration status on the census could open unauthorized immigrants to deportation, argues Tina Vasquez in Rewire.

President Trump‘s focus on immigration enforcement has caused serious concerns in the national agricultural industry (ImmigrationProf Blog).

CIVIL RIGHTS

 The civilian resistance to President Trump remains resilient, argues Charles Blow for the New York Times.

President Trump’s budget blueprint will significantly hurt people of color, argues Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas for Rewire.

In the era of “Trumpism,” it may be time to review the United State’s hate speech doctrine, Michael Dorf suggests in Dorf on Law.

President Trump plans to sign an executive order that could undo national monuments, including the Stonewall Inn. (The Hill) (LGBTQ nation).

President Trump’s new State Department spokesperson has a history of anti-Muslim rhetoric, according to Zaid Jilani at the Intercept.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

 Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump are functionally immune from conflict of interest laws, argues Michael Maruca (Global Anticorruption Blog).

The State Department blog promoted Trump’s private club, Mar-a-Lago, in a blog post earlier this month (CNN, NY Times, WaPo).

JUSTICE & SAFETY

 Another ballistic missile test from North Korea could prompt a military reaction from the United States, announces U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley(Politico).

President Trump should develop a cooperative strategy that counters Iran’s destabilizing behavior, according to the New York Times editorial board.

As the intensity of United States military operations increases, so does the likelihood of operational mishaps, argues Eugene Fidell for Just Security.

Now is the time to rely on diplomatic, not military initiatives, in North Korea, according to John Delury in the Washington Post.

President Trump should use Special Operation forces in upcoming military confrontations cautiously, Mark Moyar writes in the New York Times.

Congress should examine the intelligence President Trump used to justify the attack on Syria, argues Martin Hellman in Project on Government Oversight.

The Administration imposed sanctions on 271 employees of the Syrian government agency that produced chemical weapons (NYT) (Politico).

REGULATION

 The FCC will launch a rewrite of the Obama administration’s net neutrality rules, eliminating utility-style regulatory framework (Politico).

Trump plans to sign an executive order on Wednesday, instructing the Interior Department to review national monument designations that were made in the last 21 years, which could potentially undo Obama’s protection of Bears Ears National Monument in Utah (The Hill, WaPo).

Trump told advisers to cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 15 percent, although it will increase the national debt (WaPo).

• Trump has promised to make a “big announcement” on tax reform on Wednesday, although it is unlikely to feature many specifics (Politico).

The Senate confirmed Sonny Perdue, former governor of Georgia, as secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (WaPo).

A coalition of 21 state attorneys general wrote a letter to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, criticizing her decision to withdraw federal guidance issued by the Obama administration to increase consumer protections in student loan servicing (WaPo).

FEDERALISM

 The National Rifle Association will sponsor five lawsuits against gun control legislation passed in California last year, arguing that the expanded assault weapon law is unconstitutional (LA Times)

 CHECKS & BALANCES

 Although Republicans have used the Congressional Review Act to undo many Obama Administration regulations, they have not used it to the extent that some feared, writes Dan Farber(LegalPlanet).

The government may be headed toward a shutdown as the Trump administration has pushed congressional Republicans to use the looming Friday deadline as leverage to win funding for the border wall (WaPo, NY Times).

The increasing popularity of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) hinders the Trump Administration’s proposal to condition funding for the ACA on funding for the border wall, argues Philip Bump (WaPo).

Trump and congressional Republicans have been too mismatched to accomplish anything, writes Dan Balz (WaPo).

Senate staff are concerned by the Trump administration's unusual plans to host a private briefing in an unsecured White House location on North Korea (WaPo).

DEMOCRACY

 There are litigation implications to President Trump using two Twitter handles, suggests Quinta Jurecic at Lawfare.

President Trump is not likely going to be the Great Disrupter, Stephen Skowronek argues for the Washington Post. 

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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