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Karen Kadish  //  2/22/19  //  Daily Update

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President Trump should not rely on the Supreme Court to uphold his declaration of national emergency just because it saved the Muslim travel ban. A criminal complaint released on Thursday alleges that an IRS employee unlawfully disclosed confidential reports about President Trump’s former attorney, Michal Cohen. The FEC’s chair, Ellen Weintraub, has instructed FEC lawyers not to defend the FEC in non-enforcement suits in an effort to break the gridlock at the FEC and create more robust campaign-finance enforcement. Relentless discussion of impeachment may harm our democracy and inflame partisan dysfunction. The Trump Administration has cut off talks with the state of California about fuel-efficiency standards, citing the California Air Resource Board’s lack of cooperation with the Trump Administration. The 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force should not be used to justify United States air strikes in Iran.

 

TRUMP: INVESTIGATION AND LITIGATION

With the Mueller report close to release, it is important to think critically about what the report does (and does not) mean and observers should prepare themselves to accept Mueller’s prosecutorial decisions and the factual record (Lawfare).

• News outlets have also discussed their expectations of the Mueller report (NYT).

Prosecutors and commentators should move away from the terms “collusion” and “conspiracy” and move toward specific inquiries regarding the Trump campaign’s cooperation with Russia’s and others’ 2016 election-interference activities, write Ryan Goodman and Asha Rangappa at Just Security. 

A criminal complaint released on Thursday alleges that an IRS employee unlawfully disclosed confidential reports about President Trump’s former attorney, Michal Cohen (Lawfare).

 

IMMIGRATION 

President Trump should not rely on the Supreme Court to uphold his declaration of national emergency just because it saved the Muslim travel ban, writes Brianne J. Gorod at Take Care Blog.

Michael McCord at Just Security analyzes President Trump’s emergency declaration, which raises the question of whether an emergency warrants the combination of one executive agency’s authority with another agency’s funds.

The United States should reform its Syrian-refugee policy to become more empowerment-focused and sustainable, write Sahar F. Aziz, Joanna Gardner, and Omar Rana at ImmigrationProfBlog.

 

DEMOCRACY

The FEC’s chair, Ellen Weintraub, has instructed FEC lawyers not to defend the FEC in non-enforcement suits in an effort to break the gridlock at the FEC and create more robust campaign-finance enforcement (Sunlight Foundation).

Relentless discussion of impeachment may harm our democracy and inflame partisan dysfunction, write Joshua Matz and Laurence H. Tribe in The Atlantic. 

 

JUSTICE & SAFETY

The 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force should not be used to justify United States air strikes in Iran, write Steve Vladeck and Tess Bridgeman at Just Security.

 

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST 

Former Trump Administration officials continue to have access to official social media accounts after they leave office, resulting in private tweets being sent from official government social media, writes Donald K. Sherman at CREW.

 

REGULATION 

The Trump Administration has cut off talks with the state of California about fuel-efficiency standards, citing the California Air Resource Board’s lack of cooperation with the Trump Administration (WSJ).

 

RULE OF LAW

The progress of the Mueller investigation, even under acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, shows the strength of the DOJ’s norms of independence, writes Jack Goldsmith at Lawfare.

 

CHECKS & BALANCES

Congress’s power to investigate the president is a key part of congressional oversight and checks on executive power – it is not harassment of the president, write Brianne Gorod and Rebecca Damante at Take Care Blog.

 

Tags:

Immigration Rule of Law Conflicts Checks & Balances Regulation Democracy Justice & Safety

 

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