, Christina Ford  //  7/13/17  //  Daily Update

The State Department announced that the United States has hit its cap of 50,000 refugee admissions for the fiscal year. The Pence-Kobach "election integrity" commission has reportedly halted its request for sensitive voter information after multiple legal challenges. President Trump reportedly failed to officially resign from at least four of his prior businesses. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Christopher Wray’s nomination for FBI Director. Democratic donors and campaign staff have sued the Trump Campaign for conspiring in the release of hacked Democratic emails. A Member of Congress has filed the first articles of impeachment against President Trump.

IMMIGRATION

The State Department announced Wednesday that the United States has hit its cap of 50,000 refugee admissions for the fiscal year (LA Times).

• Here is what that means for those hoping to find sanctuary in the U.S.

President Trump and his aides are quietly working with two conservative senators to dramatically limit legal immigration by 2027 (Politico).

House Republicans are including $1.6 billion to construct President Trump’s border wall as part of the Homeland Security spending bill for the fiscal year 2018 (WSJ).

DACA, an Obama-era deportation relief program, may soon face a legal challenge; the Trump Administration will not commit to defending it (Politico, CNN).

The Trump Administration has reversed course and decided to allow into the United States a group of Afghan girls hoping to participate in an international robotics competition next week (Politico).

CIVIL RIGHTS

A DOJ watchdog report criticized the use of solitary confinement for mentally ill inmates in federal prisons (WaPo, The Marshall Project).

The Legal Defense Fund filed a FOIA request to ensure that the Department of Education is appropriately assessing whether there are systemic problems with disciplining students of color and students with disabilities (LDF).

Christopher Wray has a troubling record on civil liberties, writes Christopher Anders for the ACLU.

DEMOCRACY

The lawsuit filed against President Trump for blocking Twitter followers is important and powerful, explains Amanda Shanor for Take Care Blog.

• Her previous analyses of the lawsuit can be found here and here.

The Pence-Kobach "election integrity" commission has reportedly halted its request for sensitive voter information after multiple legal challenges (The Hill).

• The election commission has been a disaster—and it’s going exactly as planned, argues Dahlia Lithwick for Slate.
• The Fair Elections Legal Network brought a claim that EAC Commissioner McCormick is illegally also serving on the Pence-Kobach Fraud Commission (Election Law Blog).

One in four American voters say they will consider not voting in upcoming elections due to concerns over cybersecurity (The Hill).

JUSTICE & SAFETY

The Trump Administration has moved to restrict government agencies from using products produced by the Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab (The Hill).

The Obama Administration’s countering violent extremism (CVE) program has three principal weaknesses, all of which have become impossible to ignore in the Trump Administration, argues Faiza Patel for Just Security.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

DOJ’s historical definition of “emolument” is inaccurate and misleading, argues John Mikhail at Take Care.

Claims that the Foreign Emoluments Clause does not apply to the President are unpersuasive and ill-founded, writes Joshua Matz at Take Care.

President Trump failed to officially resign as CEO or President from at least four of his prior businesses (Intercept).

REGULATION

The D.C. Circuit’s decision in Clean Air Council vindicates the principle that agencies cannot use enforcement discretion to cancel legal obligations altogether, writes Zachary Price at Take Care.

CMS approved Alaska’s Medicaid waiver to fund a reinsurance program with funds otherwise used for premium tax credits (Health Affairs).

CHECKS & BALANCES

The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Christopher Wray’s nomination for FBI Director (NYT).

• During the hearing, Wray pledged he would resign before improperly dropping an investigation.
• Benjamin Wittes criticized members of the Senate Judiciary Committee for failing to effectively question Wray given the current circumstances.

REMOVAL FROM OFFICE

A Member of Congress has filed the first articles of impeachment against President Trump (WaPo).

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

President Trump said his son was “innocent” of any wrongdoing amid reports of a meeting with Russia-linked lawyers to obtain information about Hillary Clinton (NYT; WSJ)

• Special Counsel Robert Mueller will examine the email chain as part of his investigation.
• Rick Hasen argues Donald Trump Jr. has no legitimate free speech defense for his actions.
• Bob Bauer explains what the emails might mean for President Trump.
• The Senate Judiciary Committee plans to call Paul Manafort to testify next week to discuss the email chain.

Democratic donors and campaign staff are suing the Trump campaign for conspiring in the release of hacked Democratic emails (NYT).

• You can read the complaint here.

Russian officials were overheard discussing meetings with Trump associates in the spring of 2015 (WSJ).