Daily Update | July 19, 2018
Abigail DeHart // 7/19/18 //
At a news conference, President Trump walked back comments he made which contradicted the assessment of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia had interfered in the 2016 U.S. election. Sikh Indian asylum seekers have reported that their turbans were taken away in a federal prison in Oregon. The Ninth Circuit denied the Trump administration’s motion to stay the preliminary injunction that prevents the implementation of a plan to ban transgender people from serving openly in the U.S. Armed Services. Secret Service documents received through FOIA requests revealed that taxpayers spent nearly $250,000 for two overseas trips by Eric and Donald Trump Jr. in which they visited Trump family businesses. New York City and State filed lawsuits over the DOJ public safety grants that require sanctuary cities to work with ICE.
IMMIGRATION
Sikh Indian asylum seekers have reported that their turbans were taken away in a federal prison in Oregon (India Tribune).
CIVIL RIGHTS
The Ninth Circuit denied the Trump administration’s motion to stay the preliminary injunction that prevents the implementation of a plan to ban transgender people from serving openly in the U.S. Armed Services (Lamda Legal).
Bipartisan lawmakers are looking into controversial remarks made by Principal Deputy Administrator Mary Lazare for HHS’s Administration for Community Living during a keynote address, saying she favored “segregation” of people with disabilities (Disability Scoop).
- The Administration for Community Living issued a statement on their Twitter page appearing to backtrack the comments.
JUSTICE AND SAFETY
Leading cybersecurity experts call for the Census Bureau to publicly share its cybersecurity preparations for the 2020 Census, which will be the first electronic census (Just Security).
- The letter is available here.
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
Secret Service documents received through FOIA requests revealed that taxpayers spent nearly $250,000 for two overseas trips by Eric and Donald Trump Jr. in which they visited Trump family businesses (CREW; The Hill).
REGULATION
The EPA finalized the first of a potential series of changes to the Obama administration’s federal standards for coal ash disposal (The Hill).
CHECKS & BALANCES
Term limits could fix the “dysfunction around Supreme Court confirmations,” write James Lindgren and Ross M. Stolzenberg at the Los Angeles Times.
FEDERALISM
New York City and State filed lawsuits over the DOJ public safety grants that require sanctuary cities to work with ICE (NYTimes; The Hill).
RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE
At a news conference, President Trump walked back comments he made which contradicted the assessment of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia had interfered in the 2016 U.S. election (CNN).
- The New York Times published a full transcript.
- In response, Republican members of Congress consider passing a resolution in support of the U.S. intelligence community.
Bipartisan lawmakers demand testimony from U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on the Trump administration’s Russia policy following the Helsinki summit (Foreign Policy; CNN).
Tags:
Immigration Conflicts Checks & Balances Federalism Regulation Civil Rights Justice & Safety Russian Interference