Helen Marie Berg  //  1/31/18  //  Daily Update

For the first time, names of campaign donors will appear in the background during the livestream of President Trump’s State of the Union address. The release of the Nunes memo has the support of Speaker Ryan—with a warning that it should not be used to discredit the Mueller probe. The Department of Defense has sealed once-public information on the war in Afghanistan. There has been a recent increase in the number of arrests and detentions of immigration rights activists. 

IMMIGRATION

President Trump’s immigration proposal deserves a hard look by Democrats, argues Michael W. Doyle at The Washington Post.

Democrats may not be willing to engage with President Trump over his reform proposal, suggests Jason L. Riley at The Wall Street Journal.

Even with President Trump’s offer to provide a path to legalization, many Dreamers would not qualify (The Conversation).

A federal judge criticized the Trump administration’s detention practices when she ordered immigration rights activist Ravi Ragbir to be released (WaPo).

There has been a recent increase in the number of arrests and detentions of immigration rights activists, points out Katie Egan at the ACLU.

If the decision to end DACA is not reversed, Social Security will take a hit (The Hill).

DEMOCRACY

To prepare for President Trump’s first State of the Union address, here’s a list a lessons drawn from a year of fact-checking his statements (NYT).

For the first time, names of campaign donors will appear in the background during the livestream of President Trump’s State of the Union address (WaPo).

The FEC proposes new rules for political ads on social media for 2018 election cycle (Bloomberg).

JUSTICE & SECURITY

The Department of Defense has sealed once-public information on the war in Afghanistan (WSJ).

• A federal watchdog group criticizes the DOD for classifying the data.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced new sanctions against certain Russian oligarchs and government officials (WSJ).

• Lawfare sorts through the new sanctions’ implications.
• The New York Times explains the reaction of the new sanctions in Russia.

The DOJ Inspector General is investigating an apparent delay by Andrew McCabe—who recently resigned as deputy director of the FBI—in investigating Hillary Clinton’s emails (WaPo).

President Trump’s top pick for U.S. Attorney in Manhattan is under scrutiny after it was revealed that Trump personally interviewed him (The Hill).

The Trump administration seems poised to expand the use of nuclear weapons—a move that could have devastating consequences, explain Richard A. Clarke and Steven Andreasen at The Washington Post.

President Trump abandons choice for ambassador to South Korea over personal disagreement on North Korea relations (WaPo).

REGULATION

Whether Medicaid work requirements are legal is a matter of interpretation, argues Nick Bagley at The JAMA Network.

The difficulty of changing a formal agency rule could indefinitely stall the Trump administration’s deregulation goals,  argues Richard J. Pierce, Jr. at The Regulatory Review.

Self-aggrandizing tweets and posts by federal agencies could actually be illegal (Notice & Comment).

New HHS Secretary Alex Azar will face obstacles in fulfilling promise of lower drug prices, explains Rachel Sachs at Bill of Health.

In an attempt to avoid federal preemption, California Senate defies FCC and votes to impose net neutrality restrictions (Ars Technica).

The Trump Administration’s support of school choice legislation has far-reaching consequences, writes Heather L. Weaver at the ACLU.

The DOJ and SEC are investigating whether Apple violated security laws when its latest update purportedly caused phones to slow down (Ars Technica).

President Trump’s rejection of the TPP a year ago has proved to be a loss for the U.S., explains Robert J. Samuelson at The Washington Post.

CHECKS & BALANCES

Independence and accountability are essential to the DOJ’s relationship with the president and it must remain that way, argues Jack Goldsmith at Lawfare.

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

The release of the Nunes memo has the support of Speaker Ryan—with a warning that it should not be used to discredit the Mueller probe (WaPo).

• The New York Times breaks down what we know about the memo now.
• DOJ calls the release of the memo “extraordinarily reckless.”
• The Washington Post offers a timeline of the events behind the memo.
• Just Security poses some questions the memo might answer.
• Lawfare points out that a little-known Senate rule led to the release and suggests some next steps for the administration.
• The New York Times opines the memo contains conspiracies, not evidence.
• The Wall Street Journal praises its release.

White House allows deadline for imposing sanctions on Russia for meddling in the 2016 election to pass (WaPo).

• Yet, CIA Director Mike Pompeo still thinks that Russians are likely to interfere again.
• The Washington Post  explains that Congress likely can’t force the President to impose the sanctions. 

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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