Caroline Cox, Lark Turner  //  1/17/18  //  Daily Update

The Department of Justice will ask that the Supreme Court immediately review a district court ruling that required the government to continue the DACA program. In light of the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, commentators reflected on the President’s legacy on issues of race. The Office for Civil Rights within the Department of Education is rejecting discrimination complaints from transgender students. 22 state attorneys general have filed suit to enjoin the FCC’s repeal of net neutrality. A military doctor claims Trump got a perfect score on a test designed to identify cognitive impairment, concluding the president “does not suffer from mental issues that prevent him from functioning in office.”

IMMIGRATION

The Department of Justice will ask that the Supreme Court immediately review a district court ruling that required the government to continue the DACA program (NYT).

• Lyle Denniston provides an explanation of the appeal at his eponymous blog.
• Josh Blackman discusses at Lawfare the constitutional arguments for rescinding DACA.

The Senate Judiciary Committee’s questions of Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen on Tuesday focused primarily on President Trump’s recent profane language about African countries (NYT).

• Lawfare hosts a video of Secretary Nielson’s complete testimony.

A federally funded shelter has released a pregnant immigrant teenager who was prevented from ending her pregnancy while in government custody (WaPo).

CIVIL RIGHTS

In light of the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., commentators reflected on the President’s legacy on issues of race.

• Caroline Mala Corbin explains how President Trump’s comments on “shithole countries” embody the dual nature of racism at Take Care.
• Michael Dorf reflects on the impact of the President’s racist rhetoric at Dorf on Law.
• David Leonhardt and Ian Prasad Philbrick provide their “definitive list” of the President’s racism at the New York Times.
• The President is a racist whose history has not earned him the benefit of the doubt, argues Michael Gerson at the Washington Post. 

Civil Rights leaders called Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s comments praising Martin Luther King Jr. “beyond ironic,” writes Sari Horwitz at The Washington Post.

With President Trump’s recent remarks, there is sufficient evidence to presume “any actions that disadvantage members of the groups he has disparaged were motivated by Constitutionally impermissible considerations,” explains Richard Thompson Ford at Take Care.

The Office for Civil Rights within the Department of Education is rejecting discrimination complaints from transgender students (Huffington Post).

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

A new tool called “All the President’s Profiting” tracks Trump properties that brought in more than $4 million from political entities in the past election cycle, courtesy of the Sunlight Foundation.

DEMOCRACY

Few of the events of the last several weeks, including President Trump’s profane comments and the book Fire and Fury, are likely to have a lasting impact, writes Neil H. Buchanan at Dorf on Law.

JUSTICE & SAFETY

The Pentagon is considering the development of “low-yield” warhead and sea-based cruise missile nuclear weapons (WSJ).

The Pentagon has also indicated an interest in using nuclear arms to counter significant cyberattacks (NYT).

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson announced that the United States would not agree to a “freeze for freeze” deal with North Korea (WaPo). 

The Department of Homeland Security released an 11-page report that appears to connect immigration to terrorism convictions (NYT).

• Alex Nowrasteh argues in Cato at Liberty that the report is provides little valuable information.
• Faiza Patel at Just Security explains how the math used in the report is dishonest.

Marijuana policy is as much an issue of separation of powers as it is an issue of federalism, argues Sam Kamin at ACSblog.

President Trump once again waived sanctions against Iran in compliance with the Iran Nuclear Deal, but has not signaled the final fate of the deal, explains J. Dana Stuster at Lawfare.

The interface for the ballistic missile alert system in Hawaii is distressingly rudimentary, writes Megan Guess at Ars Technica.

The President’s comments on what he called “shithole countries” could set back American interests in Africa, report Kimon de Greef and Sewell Chan at the New York Times.

U.S. counterintelligence officials reportedly warned Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump that their friend Wendi Deng-Murdoch may be working to advance the interests of the Chinese government (WSJ).

The Pentagon is pursuing development of two new nuclear weapons (WSJ).

Opinion data suggest that Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s tough-on-crime posture may backfire politically, observe Inimai Chettiar and Udi Ofer at the ACLU.

The FBI’s handling of the Clinton and Russia probes shows a troubling devolution of the agency, former FBI assistant director James Kallstrom tells William McGurn at the Wall Street Journal. 

REGULATION

In the fight against President Trump’s deregulation agenda, courts must be careful to set precedents that will not overly constrain future administrations, argues Zachary Price at Take Care.

Kentucky’s new work requirement for Medicaid recipients may result in death, writes Eduardo Porter at The New York Times.

Banks won big in Trump’s tax cut, writes Jim Tankersley at The New York Times.

The GOP takes aim at the employer mandate (NYT).

How Trump’s agency disruption may be benefiting career staffers (WaPo).

Democrats’ pushback on net neutrality could energize the electorate, writes Philip Bump in The Washington Post.

• 22 state attorneys general file suit to enjoin the FCC’s repeal of net neutrality (LA Times).

Eleven Democratic Senators have joined the Trump Administration and Senate Republicans in attempting to roll back several of the Dodd-Frank Act’s key restrictions on financial institutions (NYT).

Democrats claim there are now 50 votes to overrule the FCC’s net neutrality repeal (WaPo).

CHECKS & BALANCES

Government shutdown possible as Dems demand action on DACA (WaPo).

• Why experts consider the shutdown ‘possible’ (WaPo).

How partisan division among states in Congress could deepen — and spawn a ‘new civil war’ (NYT).

REMOVAL FROM OFFICE

A military doctor claims Trump got a perfect score on a test designed to identify cognitive impairment, concluding the president “does not suffer from mental issues that prevent him from functioning in office” (NYT).

• Here’s the test the president says he aced (LA Times).

At a White House event for women in his administration, the president asked “how did I win Arkansas by so much when [Hillary Clinton] came from Arkansas?” (WaPo video).

The adult film star Trump paid for silence about a sexual relationship between the two reportedly spoke to a journalist in 2016, fearing he would not pay (WaPo).

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

Special Counsel Robert Mueller issued a grand jury subpoena to President Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon, Mueller’s first known use of the subpoena power in the investigation (NYT).

• Bannon testified before the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday (LA Times).

Senators Marco Rubio and Chris Van Hollen announced proposed legislation that provides for sanctions for future interference with U.S. elections (The Hill).