Daily Update | August 20, 2019
Nicandro Iannacci // 8/20/19 //
DOJ asked the Second Circuit to block House subpoenas for President Trump’s financial records. Civil rights groups filed suit against ICE over the quality of medical and mental health care at detention facilities. HUD proposed a rule that would make it substantially more difficult for plaintiffs to bring “disparate impact” claims under the Fair Housing Act. Planned Parenthood announced that it will withdraw from the Title X family planning program rather than comply with a Trump administration prohibition on abortion referrals. In the wake of Jeffrey Epstein’s death, AG Bill Barr announced that former Bureau of Prisons Director Kathleen Hawk Sawyer will replace Acting Director Hugh Hurwitz as the new director.
TRUMP: INVESTIGATIONS & LITIGATION
DOJ asked the Second Circuit to block House subpoenas for President Trump’s financial records (The Hill).
- The government’s amicus brief is here.
IMMIGRATION
The Supreme Court should deny the Solicitor General’s petition for writ of certiorari on a constitutional challenge to the “expedited removal” system, write Leah Litman and Kyle Skinner at Take Care.
Civil rights groups filed suit against ICE over the quality of medical and mental health care at detention facilities (The Hill, POLITICO).
Charges have been filed against 40 people detained in the Mississippi ICE raid earlier this month, but no company managers are among them (ImmigrationProf Blog).
ICE allegedly detained a man living in the U.S. illegally while he was being deposed as part of a lawsuit against his employer (The Hill).
Congress should deny ICE’s request to reallocate funding for increased immigration detention and enforcement, write Madhuri Grewal and Yesenia Chavez for the ACLU.
CIVIL RIGHTS
HUD proposed a rule that would make it more difficult for plaintiffs to bring “disparate impact” claims under the Fair Housing Act (WSJ, Consumer Finance Monitor).
- The proposed rule is here.
- The rule is deeply flawed and risks deepening patterns of segregation and racial wealth disparities, write Michelle Aronowitz and Olatunde Johnson at Take Care.
Planned Parenthood announced that it will withdraw from the Title X family planning program rather than comply with a Trump administration prohibition on abortion referrals (NYT, WSJ, BuzzFeed News).
DEMOCRACY
President Trump claimed that Google manipulated millions of voters into voting for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election (The Hill).
JUSTICE & SAFETY
In the wake of Jeffrey Epstein’s death, AG Bill Barr announced that former Bureau of Prisons Director Kathleen Hawk Sawyer will replace Acting Director Hugh Hurwitz as the new director (WaPo, WSJ, POLITICO).
The Commerce Department extended the period for American companies to do business with Chinese telecommunications company Huawei by 90 days (NYT, WaPo, WSJ).
President Trump apparently walked back support for new gun laws (NYT).
REGULATION
President Trump called on the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates and criticized Chairman Jerome Powell (WSJ).
FEDERALISM
A group of states is preparing to announce an antitrust investigation of major technology companies, just a month after DOJ announced its own review (WSJ).
REMOVAL FROM OFFICE
Assistant House Speaker Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) announced his support for an impeachment investigation (POLITICO).