Ian Eppler, Raquel Dominguez  //  8/2/17  //  Daily Update

The Department of Justice is seeking lawyers to work on a project on “investigations and possible litigation related to intentional race-based discrimination in college and university admissions” that will likely target affirmative action programs. Retired Generals and Admirals have spoken out against President Trump’s ban on transgender individuals in the military. The United States sanctioned Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by freezing his American assets and banning Americans from doing business with him. The Senate confirmed Christopher Wray, President Trump’s nominee for FBI Director.

IMMIGRATION

ICE  has moved from targeted arrests to a more general, arrest any suspect, approach (San Jose Mercury News).

The San Francisco Police Chief’s statement on the city’s Sanctuary Ordinance can be found here.

In New York, private donors will pay for legal services for undocumented immigrants convicted of serious crimes (NYT).

CIVIL RIGHTS

The Department of Justice is seeking lawyers to work on a project on “investigations and possible litigation related to intentional race-based discrimination in college and university admissions” that will likely target affirmative action programs (NYT).

The DOJ’s amicus curiae brief in Zarda v. Altitude Express is analytically weak, argue Joanna Grossman and Anthony Kreis for Verdict.

The White House met with nearly 100 evangelical leaders to listen to their concerns (Christian Post).

Retired Generals and Admirals spoke out against President Trump’s ban on transgender individuals in the military, reports Brian McBride from the Human Rights Campaign.

DEMOCRACY

The public continues to react to Scaramucci’s removal and to speculate on retired General John Kelly’s next move (Just Security).

Some experts expressed concern over how Kelly’s switch to Chief of Staff could affect the Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity mission (Politico).

• Kelly reportedly vehemently disagreed with the firing of former FBI Director James Comey (CNN, Business Insider).
• Jed Shugerman warns of celebrating the incoming Chief of Staff without remembering his past acts.
• Kevin Johnson, on Immigration Prof Blog, compiles the names of potential replacements for the position of Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling has asked the Office of Special Counsel to investigate whether Richard Cordray, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has violated the Hatch Act by running for elected office while a federal employee (The Hill).

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth heard arguments on whether a law prohibiting the government from collecting data on how Americans exercise their First Amendment rights prohibits the Election Integrity Commission from obtaining voting records from states (WaPo).

Maine Secretary of State and member of the Election Integrity Commission, Matt Dunlap, has said he will not submit Maine voting data to the commission for fear of public disclosure (Press Herald).

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach appealed to the 10th U.S. Court of Appeals in an attempt to avoid being deposed by the ACLU (Kansas City Star).

SAFETY AND JUSTICE

In contrast to CIA Director Mike Pompeo’s statement that nuclear capacity should be separated from an intent to deploy it, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made clear that the United States has no desire for a regime change in North Korea (Business Insider).

The United States should replicate the Iranian deal, characterized by deterrence by denial with arms control, with countries like North Korea and Pakistan, argues Robert Litwak on Lawfare.

Vice President Pence spoke of a tough stance on Russia (WaPo, The Hill).

• Meanwhile, President Trump faces a tough decision between wanting to improve Russian relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and a potential congressional override should he veto the Russian sanction legislation (LA Times).
• President Trump has not yet indicated what he will do in relation to Russia (WaPo).
• Melissa Etehad summarizes the sanctions bill at the New York Times.
• Putin will allow the United States to decide which diplomats they will have leave Russia to meet the 755 number set by the Russian President (The Hill).
• Putin will, reportedly, send troops to the NATO border in coming weeks (NYT).

The United States sanctioned Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by freezing his American assets and banning Americans from doing business with him (WaPo).

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

Archival research suggests that the Framers of the Constitution intended for the Foreign Emoluments Clause to apply to the president, writes Brianne Gorod at Take Care.

REGULATION

There are many ways in which the Trump administration could sabotage the Affordable Care Act, but Congress could protect the health care market, argues Nicholas Bagley in the Los Angeles Times.

Administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, met with Senate leaders on raising the debt ceiling, but made no progress (WaPo).

But the Trump administration could also take steps to stabilize the individual health care market, writes Carmel Shachar at Bill of Health.

Pursuant to a 2006 law, the Department of Homeland Security has waived several environmental laws to expedite construction of President Trump’s proposed border wall (The Hill).

Sixteen states sued the Environmental Protection Agency over its delay in implementing a rule on ozone pollution (The Hill).

• The petition for review is available here.

The Comptroller of the Currency will not seek repeal of a recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule on mandatory arbitration (The Hill).

 The Department of Education has dropped plans to revise the federal student loan servicing program (Politico).

The history of environmental lead regulation suggests that the Trump administration’s deregulatory approach may prove harmful, writes Francis Wilkinson at Bloomberg View.

RULE OF LAW

International experience suggests that President Trump’s attempts to delegitimize the judiciary may cause lasting harm, argues Michael Dorf at Dorf on Law.

Despite claims that federal prosecutions are subject to complete presidential control, there is a long tradition of prosecutorial independence in the United States, writes Rebecca Roiphe at ACS Blog.

Both Congress and the American people should be prepared to act immediately if President Trump fires Special Counsel Robert Mueller, suggests Dan Froomkin at ACS Blog.  

In a lawsuit, a private detective alleged that White House officials, including former press secretary Sean Spicer, were involved in an effort to develop a false news story about murdered Democratic National Committee employer Seth Rich in order to distract from the Russia investigation (NPR, NYT, Politico).

• The administration denied a role in the story (Politico).

CHECKS & BALANCES

The Senate confirmed Christopher Wray, President Trump’s nominee for FBI Director by a vote of 92-5 (NYT, Politico, WaPo).

The House Judiciary Committee’s adoption of a resolution calling for a special counsel to investigate the Hillary Clinton campaign is inappropriate, writes Quinta Jurecic at Lawfare.

By a vote of 66-31, the Senate confirmed Kevin Newsom, President Trump’s nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit (How Appealing).

Due to his role in authoring the “torture memos” as head of the Office of Legal Counsel under President George W. Bush, the Senate should reject the nomination of Steven Bradbury as general counsel of the Department of Transportation, suggests Daphne Eviatar at Just Security.

REMOVAL FROM OFFICE

Congress could censure President Trump without pursuing the formal impeachment process, argues Hannah Ryan at Just Security.

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

President Trump personally dictated a misleading statement on his son’s meeting with a lawyer affiliated with the Russian government who promised damaging information on Hillary Clinton (WaPo).

President Trump’s personal lawyer, Jay Sekulow, had claimed that President Trump was not involved in the drafting of the statement (WaPo).

In a statement, the administration claimed that President Trump’s role in the drafting of the statement was “something that any father would do” (The Hill).

In a speech to Congressional interns, Jared Kushner claimed that the Trump campaign was too disorganized to collude with Russia (Foreign Policy).

• The audio is available here.

The Republican National Committee has asked its staff to preserve documents related to the 2016 election, in anticipation of a potential investigation (The Hill).