Kate Berry  //  2/5/18  //  Daily Update

The Trump Administration released a new Nuclear Posture Review on Friday, in which it announces a need to modernize weaponry in response to Russia’s efforts, sparking a “new kind of nuclear arms race.” The Supreme Court’s decision whether to intervene in the debate over congressional redistricting in Pennsylvania could have considerable impact on the midterm elections. Increasing numbers of states and localities are resisting cooperation with federal immigration agents. 

IMMIGRATION

Despite discussions at a unity retreat in West Virginia, Republican lawmakers were unable to reach consensus on their strategy for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program (The Hill).

Increasing numbers of states and localities are resisting cooperation with federal immigration agents, according to the American Immigration Council.

DEMOCRACY

The Supreme Court’s decision whether to intervene in the debate over congressional redistricting in Pennsylvania could have considerable impact on the midterm elections (WSJ).

JUSTICE & SAFETY

The Trump Administration’s inaction enables ISIS’s success in internet recruitment and message and needs to be countered with deliberate disruption practices, argues Michael Smith at Lawfare.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reported that the U.S. may restrict oil sales to Venezuela, in an attempt to pressure the government to resolve political and economic crisis (The Hill).

President Trump’s comments about Latin American countries as sources of illegal drugs may undercut the aims of Secretary of State Tillerson’s trip (WSJ). 

North Korea’s foreign ministry spokesman called President Trump’s State of the Union address “the height of Trump-style arrogance, arbitrariness and self-conceit” (The Hill).

The Trump Administration released a new Nuclear Posture Review on Friday, in which it announces a need to modernize weaponry in response to Russia’s efforts, sparking a “new kind of nuclear arms race” (NYT).

• Iranian President Hassan Rouhani accused the United States of threatening Russia with new nuclear weapons (The Hill).

REGULATION

The Trump Administration will withdraw its nomination of climate change skeptic, Kathleen Hartnett White, to lead the Council on Environmental Quality (NYT).

A top EU official warned that any U.S. tariffs on European exporters would be matched in kind on American exporters (The Hill).

A consent order negotiated between the Federal Reserve and Wells Fargo prevented the bank from growing and emphasized the responsibility of directors (NYT).  

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE 

The House Intelligence Committee will vote on Monday whether to release a counter memo written by Democratic members of the committee, in response to Friday’s release the Nunes memo (NYT, The Hill). 

• Four Republican Intelligence Committee members disagreed that the Nunes memo undermines the Mueller investigation, distancing themselves from President Trump’s assertions (WaPo).
• Former CIA Director John Brennan criticized the Nunes memo as partisan and an abuse of Rep. Devin Nunes’s position on the House Intelligence Committee (WaPo).
• Rep. Adam Schiff argued that President Trump is trying to weaponize the Department of Justice as a “political tool” (The Hill).
• Former Trump campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, argued on “Fox & Friends” that the Nunes memo evidences “gross[...] abuses of power” by the FBI and DOJ (The Hill).
• The Nunes memo suggests the FBI may have violated “Woods Procedures,” procedural rules designed to prevent unverified material from appearing before the FISA court, writes Sharyl Attkisson at The Hill.

And that's our update today! Thanks for reading. We cover a lot of ground, so our updates are inevitably a partial selection of relevant legal commentary.  

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