Derek Reinbold , Raquel Dominguez  //  7/26/17  //  Daily Update

President Trump continues to criticize his Attorney General.  The Senate takes another step towards repealing the Affordable Care Act.  And Jared Kushner faces another day of testimony before the House Intelligence Committee.

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

Today, Jared Kushner faced a second day of questioning on Capitol Hill, this time in front of the House Intelligence Committee (ABC, The Hill).

• Kushner’s response was conspicuously silent in at least one area, and, because he testified in closed session, we do not know how his answers held up, write Susan Hennessey and Benjamin Wittes at Foreign Policy.
• Former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti dissected Kushner’s statement from yesterday at Just Security.
• Kushner’s statement provides additional material useful in determining the Trump campaign’s culpability under campaign finance laws, writes Bob Bauer at Just Security.

The Senate Judiciary Committee issued and then dropped a subpoena against Paul Manafort after Manafort agreed to testify before the committee (Politico).

The House easily passed bipartisan legislation to limit the Trump administration’s ability to lift sanctions on Russia (The Hill).

President Obama reclaimed the pardon power as a principled tool of the presidency; President Trump would undo that progress with a self-pardon, writes Mark Osler at Take Care.

• We should think about presidential indictment, self-pardon, obstruction of justice, and other thorny questions with the traditional tools of constitutional interpretation, says Daniel Hemel at Take Care.
• Self-pardon — if upheld — would pave the way for presidential impunity, suggests Andrew Wright at ACS Blog.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is not bound by memos prepared by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, argues Andrew Crespo at Lawfare.

• Over the weekend, the New York Times published a memo prepared by independent counsel Kenneth Starr which stated that the President can be indicted, contrary to the position adopted by the Office of Legal Counsel (NYT).

IMMIGRATION

The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts has essentially declared the Commonwealth a sanctuary state (WSJ, NYT, Reuters, Boston Herald).

• Nikolas Bowie for Take Care details the case of Sreynoun Lunn and how the Court reached its decision.
• César Hernández for Crimmigration summarizes the issue.

U.S. District Court Judge Mark Goldsmith extended a preliminary injunction to halt the deportation of Iraqi immigrants until further immigration hearings can be held (LA Times, Detroit Free Press).

• Bonsitu A. Kitaba-Gaviglio, a staff attorney for the ACLU, describes the ACLU’s reaction to the ruling and anticipates many battles to come.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions will not allow sanctuary cities to qualify for the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program, which provides funds for law enforcement programs (CBS News).

• While this is a major funding program, it is only one such program, notes Kevin Johnson on ImmigrationProf Blog.

CIVIL RIGHTS

Reporters and analysts continue to react to the D.C. District Court’s decision to allow the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity to collect whatever data is permissible under state privacy laws (ARS Technica).

• District Court Judge Julie Robinson refused to reconsider a $1,000 fine against Kobach, saying he had demonstrated a pattern of misleading the court (WaPo).
• Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted wrote a letter to the Commission explaining that voter fraud is rare and declining to turn over driver’s license and social security numbers.
• Kris Kobach, a member of the Commission and the Secretary of State of Kansas, said that states will receive a new letter describing how to submit voter information (Kansas City Star).
• Representative A. Donald McEachin fears that the Commission will block access to the polls.
• The Commission currently lacks the experts and scientists needed for real election reform (Guardian).

It is not surprising that President Trump endorsed soliciting foreign campaign donations; his campaign repeatedly violated the ban on such illegal solicitation during the 2016 race, argues Fred Wertheimer at Just Security.

The proposed Israel Anti-Boycott Act could threaten free speech (WaPo).

JUSTICE & SAFETY

President Trump’s approach to Syria now relies heavily on Russian cooperation (WaPo).

With a tweet, President Trump confirms existence of nominally secret Syrian rebel funding, writes J. Dana Stuster for Lawfare.

• President Trump’s tweet can be found here.

Kleindienst v. Mandel should not serve as a cornerstone for the travel ban decision, argues Geoffrey A. Hoffman on the ImmigrationProf Blog.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ approach to crime does not work, argues Jeffrey Robinson for the ACLU.

North Korea could have a reliable, nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile as early as next year (NYT).

RULE OF LAW

In a press conference, President Trump continued his attacks on Attorney General Jeff Sessions, saying Sessions’s recusal was a “bad thing” for the presidency (NYT).

• There are three scenarios for Sessions’s succession, with dramatically different implications for Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing investigation, writes Steve Vladeck at Just Security.
• Senate Democrats appear to have found a way to stop President Trump from making recess appointments (CNN). This may block Vladeck’s third scenario, the scenario that would have given President Trump the greatest flexibility to appoint Sessions’s successor.
• Failing to hold pro forma sessions while in recess would signal tacit approval to the Attorney General’s replacement without Senate vetting, writes Gerard Magliocca at Balkinization.

REGULATION

The Senate voted to begin debate on a bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act, with Vice President Pence breaking the 50-50 vote (NYT, WSJ).

• The Senate’s secretive process and lack of deliberation may rise to the level of a due process violation, writes Abbe Gluck at Take Care.
• A proposal in the House of Representatives would abolish the Congressional Budget Office, a transparent step in the “war on information,” argues Leah Litman at Take Care.
• We should think of healthcare as a public investment; one worth the cost, argue Walter McClure, Alain Enthoven, and Tim McDonald at Health Affairs Blog.

The House voted to repeal a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule that would protect consumers’ rights to sue banks in class actions (The Hill).

• The House’s repeal resolution, issued using the Congressional Review Act, will now proceed to the Senate.

The FDA’s “deeming rule” survived its first court challenge (Volokh Conspiracy).

REMOVAL FROM OFFICE

If impeachment is a tool never used, Congress might find that some who hold office an office of trust under the United States are emboldened to behave badly, writes Keith Whittington at Lawfare.