Nicandro Iannacci  //  12/18/19  //  Daily Update

The House will vote on Articles of Impeachment. Elsewhere, the Trump Administration proposed new rules related to organ donation.

IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY 

The House of Representatives will vote to impeach President Trump (NYT, WaPo). 

The president wrote a six-page letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, objecting to the entire impeachment inquiry (NYT, WSJ, POLITICO).

• The letter is here.

On the eve of the historic vote, protests in favor of impeachment took place across the country (NYT). 

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) rejected a request from Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to subpoena new witnesses for the impeachment trial (WaPo, POLITICO). 

• McConnell and Schumer are much less important to the proceedings than the existing procedural rules, Chief Justice John Roberts, and the parties themselves, writes David Super at Balkinization. 

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) says Vice President Mike Pence is refusing to declassify information “directly relevant” to the impeachment inquiry (WaPo). 

Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani has bragged in interviews that he “forced” out former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch (WaPo).

The current U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor will leave his post at the beginning of the new year (WaPo, WSJ) 

• Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) criticized the State Department for recalling the ambassador (WaPo).

Seven legal experts weigh in on whether President Trump committed bribery (Vox). 

Republicans that support impeachment and find the political courage to vote in favor may still survive reelection, write Jon Meacham and Michael E. Shepherd in The Washington Post

President Trump’s naked unilateralism poses a grave threat to national security, writes Harold Hongju Koh at Just Security.

With impeachment, we are on the verge of a constitutional breakdown, and it’s surprising it didn’t happen sooner, writes Neil Buchanan at Dorf on Law. 

The president’s impeachment defense may have harmful consequences for the Ukraine whistleblower and all whistleblowers, write Stephen M. Kohn, Michael D. Kohn, and David K. Colapinto at The Hill.

TRUMP: INVESTIGATIONS & LITIGATION 

House Democrats filed a notice of appeal to the D.C. Circuit in a lawsuit to obtain President Trump’s tax returns (POLITICO, The Hill). 

Former Trump aide Rick Gates was sentenced to 45 days jail for participation in financial crimes and lying to investigators (NYT, WSJ, BuzzFeed News, POLITICO, The Hill). 

A federal judge ruled that Ukrainian businessman and Giuliani associate Lev Parnas may remain on house arrest until his case is resolved (WaPo, POLITICO).

IMMIGRATION 

President Trump said Guatemala is helping to reduce the number of asylum seekers in the U.S. after the countries signed a “safe third country” agreement in July (WaPo).

JUSTICE & SECURITY 

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court criticized the FBI’s surveillance of former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page and ordered the FBI to propose changes to how it seeks permission for surveillance (NYT, WaPo, WSJ, POLITICO). 

• The court’s order is here.

REGULATION 

The Trump administration proposed new rules governing organ collection agencies in an effort to increase organ availability (WaPo, WSJ).

The administration’s new restrictions on SNAP eligibility will hurt families and small businesses, writes Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-N.Y.) in The Hill.

CHECKS & BALANCES 

House Democrats say HHS is stonewalling their investigation of Medicare and Medicaid chief Seema Verma’s extensive use of PR consultants (POLITICO).