Daily Update | February 19, 2019
Hetali Lodaya // 2/19/19 //
Sixteen states sue to challenge the President’s authority to declare a national emergency to build the border wall. A lawsuit was filed by multiple civil rights organizations challenging the administration’s policy of sending asylum seekers back to Mexico while their cases are considered. The budget bill passed last week pushes back against some Trump Administration policies, but overall continues to expand the federal government’s immigration prison regime. President Trump stopped cost-sharing payments under the ACA, and Congress may end up liable to insurers for over $12 billion in missed payments. The First Circuit says the board appointed to oversee Puerto Rico’s finances was illegally constituted, and President Trump may have to appoint a new one.
TRUMP: INVESTIGATIONS AND LITIGATION
The Center for Public Integrity has several pieces on Trump’s campaign fundraising infrastructure, writes Rick Hasen at the Election Law Blog.
Three months have passed with no decision from the D.C. Circuit on a challenge to Robert Mueller’s appointment, and the wait could indicate bad news, writes Josh Gerstein at Politico.
IMMIGRATION
Sixteen states sue to challenge the President’s authority to declare a national emergency to build the border wall (NYT, Lawfare).
- The complaint is here.
- A variety of experts weigh in on the legality of the declaration at Vox.
- The declaration violates the separation of powers, writes Ilya Shapiro at the Cato Institute.
- It is unclear to what extent President Trump did or did not receive legal advice from White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, or from the Office of Legal Counsel, in developing his national emergency declaration (Lawfare).
The budget bill passed last week pushes back against some Trump Administration policies, but overall continues to expand federal government’s immigration prison regime, writes César Hernández at crImmigration.
A lawsuit was filed by multiple civil rights organizations challenging the administration’s policy of sending asylum seekers back to Mexico while their cases are considered (ImmigrationProfBlog).
REGULATION
President Trump stopped cost-sharing payments under the ACA, and Congress may end up liable to insurers for over $12 billion in missed payments, writes Nick Bagley for Take Care.
Lyft has joined a lawsuit challenging the Administration’s plan to weaken Obama-era fuel standards (The Hill).
Congressional Democrats and the President have opened talks regarding regulating drug prices (The Hill).
The Third Circuit affirms a lower court ruling that the Administration cannot withhold federal funds from Philadelphia over its sanctuary city policy (The Inquirer).
RULE OF LAW
The First Circuit says the board appointed to oversee Puerto Rico’s finances was illegally constituted, and President Trump may have to appoint a new one, writes Andrew Scurria at The Wall Street Journal.
If the Supreme Court upholds the President’s use of a national emergency declaration as a response to illegal border crossings, it would be hard not to uphold a hypothetical future declaration in response to climate change, posits Dan Farber at Legal Planet.