Daily Update | July 4, 2018
The Senate Intelligence Committee released an unclassified report backing up conclusions from U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in the 2016 election with the goal of helping President Trump win. Michael Cohen looks ready to become a government cooperator. The top Supreme Court candidates’ views on Roe v. Wade are under scrutiny. Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded DOJ guidance stating that asylum seekers and refugees have a right to work in the U.S. The administration is encouraging school superintendents and college presidents to adopt race-blind admissions policies, reversing Obama-era guidance. The official White House Twitter account attacked several Democratic lawmakers who have criticized ICE. The investigation into Scott Pruitt is getting closer and closer as his own staffers begin to accuse him of wrongdoing.
TRUMP: INVESTIGATIONS & LITIGATION
President Trump falsely connected the recent deletion of information from the NSA database to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation (WaPo, The Hill, Politico).
Michael Cohen looks ready to become a government cooperator, write Norman Eisen, Barry Berke, and Dani James at WaPo.
IMMIGRATION
A federal court has blocked the arbitrary detention of asylum seekers and ordered a case-by-case review of whether humanitarian parole is warranted (NYT, WSJ, ACLU, The Hill).
The official White House Twitter account attacked several Democratic lawmakers who have criticized ICE (NYT, WaPo).
- MS-13 is far from the ‘infestation’ that President Trump describes, write Sahil Chinoy, Jessia Ma, and Stuart A. Thompson at NYT.
The administration’s approach to immigration demonstrates malevolence, incompetence, and carelessness, write Carrie Cordero and Quinta Jurecic at Lawfare.
- The effects of the administration’s hardline immigration policy are felt far away from the border, writes Hugo Bachega at BBC News.
- An ICE raid leaves an Iowa town divided along faith lines, writes Trip Gabriel at NYT.
- President Trump’s harsh anti-immigration agenda may not be a winning strategy, writes Greg Sargent at WaPo.
- The administration’s approach also poses issues for immigration judges, writes Joe Davidson at WaPo.
Taxpayers should demand that no more money goes to jailing immigrants after the DHS Office of Inspector General report that raises questions about the usefulness of inspections of immigrant detention facilities, write Victoria López and Madhuri Grewal at ACLU.
- Read the report here.
Democrats are weighing the strategy of calls to abolish ICE (WSJ).
- President Trump defended ICE in response to these calls (Politico)
Judge Jesse Furman ordered the administration to provide details on its decision-making process for adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census (The Hill).
Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded DOJ guidance stating that asylum seekers and refugees have a right to work in the U.S. (The Hill).
CIVIL RIGHTS
The top Supreme Court candidates’ views on Roe v. Wade are under scrutiny, writes Andrew Chung at Reuters.
- Senator Susan Collins voiced skepticism that a new Supreme Court would overturn Roe (The Hill).
- Roe and Obergefell v. Hodges are likely to survive, writes the Editorial Board of the WSJ.
- Precedents can be abandoned, but there is no guarantee that would happen to Roe, writes Ramesh Ponnuru at Bloomberg.
- The effect of replacing Justice Kennedy on civil rights is far from clear, writes Jack Goldsmith at the Weekly Standard.
- If Roe is overturned, Republicans will have to deal with a loud angry backlash, writes Charles Lane at WaPo.
- Fox News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano called Roe precedent that will not be overturned, “whether you like it or not” (The Hill).
- Returning abortion to the states may be the best option for Democrats and Republicans alike, writes Megan McArdle at WaPo.
- Obergefell and other LGBTQ rights cases could be in just as much danger as Roe, write Liam Stack and Elizabeth Dias at NYT.
- Potential nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett has stated support for overturning precedents that are not in line with the Constitution (LA Times).
- The new justice will be able to weigh in on abortion quickly, writes Jennifer Haberkorn at Politico.
The Senate must stand ready to ensure that any nominee commits to upholding Justice Kennedy’s core legacy of safeguarding the rights and dignity of all Americans, like it did when Judge Robert Bork was nominated, writes Joel Dodge at The Hill.
Studies by the EEOC and the DOJ Inspector General demonstrate that gender discrimination and bias exist in federal public safety and law enforcement occupations (WaPo).
DEMOCRACY
Florida Senators Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson urged the state to request help from DHS in protecting the state’s voting systems prior to the midterm elections in November (The Hill).
It is unclear just which party is weaponizing the First Amendment today, writes Roger Pilon at Cato at Liberty.
JUSTICE & SAFETY
President Trump interviewed potential replacements for Justice Anthony Kennedy’s Supreme Court seat (WaPo, NYT, WSJ).
- The personal interview with the president is a relatively recent innovation, writes Mark Tushnet at Balkinization.
- Judge Amul Thapar would add bring an approach focused on textualism in the trenches, writes Benjamin Beaton at the Yale Journal on Regulation.
- Edith Roberts profiles Judge Thapar at SCOTUSBlog.
- Judge Thapar would be the ideal choice for Trump country, writes Scott Jennings at Real Clear Politics.
- Judge Thapar would be good for the court and for the Republican party, writes John Fund at Fox News.
- Judge Brett Kavanaugh would be a reasonable, mainstream choice, writes Jed Shugerman at Shugerblog.
- Judge Kavanaugh exemplifies consistency with statutory and constitutional text, writes Jennifer Mascott at Yale Journal of Regulation.
- Judge Kavanaugh faithfully applies the Constitution and has already influenced the Supreme Court through his dissents, writes J.D. Vance at WSJ.
- Anti-abortion rights groups are quietly lobbying senior White House officials against Judge Kavanaugh, writes Tara Palmeri at ABC News.
- Nominating Judge Amy Coney Barrett would trigger a fight, writes Matt Lewis at The Daily Beast.
- If Judge Barrett is nominated, opponents should avoid making the fight about her religion, writes Frank Bruni at NYT.
- Senator Mike Lee would combine solid conservatism with a long record of bipartisanship, writes Deroy Murdock at the National Review.
- Judge Raymond Kethledge would bring political upsides for the president, writes Hugh Hewitt at WaPo.
- President Trump’s approach to choosing a nominee will reveal his strategy for reelection, write John Yoo and Robert J. Delabunty at Fox News.
With four months to go until the midterms, the nomination should wait until after Americans vote, writes Sen. Dianne Feinstein at USA Today.
- The plan to nominate Justice Kennedy’s replacement on July 9 roughly matches past recent nominations that occurred mid-summer, writes Andrew Hamm at SCOTUSBlog.
Senate Democrats plan to ask any nominee whether he or she agrees with the administration’s position on the Affordable Care Act (HuffPost).
- The Washington Post treated the initial Democratic response to Justice Kennedy’s retirement unfairly, writes Neil H. Buchanan at Dorf on Law.
Courts are treating national security as an overriding policy concern relevant to judicial consideration of bread-and-butter legal concepts, as seen in Trump v. Hawaii, writes Maryam Jamshidi at Just Security.
President Trump spoke with Andrés Manual López Obrador, Mexico’s new president-elect (NYT).
- The election offers an opportunity for a reset on U.S.-Mexican relations (WSJ).
Trump v. Hawaii left five unanswered questions, writes Josh Blackman at Lawfare.
North Korea’s upgrading of its infrastructure for building nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles in recent months should neither surprise the United States nor derail talks, writes Eric Gomez at Cato at Liberty.
- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel to North Korea seeking answers about its nuclear plans (LA Times, WSJ).
- President Trump stated on Twitter that the U.S. would be at war with North Korea were it not for his actions (Politico).
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte called the tariffs against European goods “not positive” (The Hill, WaPo).
- The administration seems unaware of the potential consequences of such tariffs, writes Paul Krugman at NYT.
The U.S. will consider Iran sanctions on a case-by-case basis (WSJ).
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
The investigation into Scott Pruitt is getting closer and closer as his own staffers begin to accuse him of wrongdoing, writes Aaron Blake at WaPo.
- Utah oil drillers won pollution breaks from Pruitt (Politico).
- A former political fundraising ally is in charge of the EPA Office of the Executive Secretariat, which is responsible for the slow response to FOIA requests for Pruitt’s office (Politico).
REGULATION
HHS statistics show that the Affordable Care Act is holding up well despite the administration’s efforts to hobble it (LA Times).
- Short-term health care plans would increase coverage, protect conscience rights, and improve risk pools, writes Michael F. Cannon at Cato at Liberty.
The Supreme Court’s decision in Lucia v. SEC has several implications for the CFPB, writes Barbara S. Mishkin at Ballard Spahr LLP.
FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb’s tweets on the opioid crisis show a frustrating lack of willingness to challenge the prevailing narrative around drugs, writes Jeffrey A. Singer at Cato at Liberty.
The administration is encouraging school superintendents and college presidents to adopt race-blind admissions policies, reversing Obama-era guidance (NYT, WaPo, WSJ).
- The American Council on Education, the largest higher education lobbying group, stated its refusal to follow the administration (Politico).
A new HHS report found that increases in insurance prices led to around one million Americans losing health insurance coverage (NYT).
A federal judge ordered FEMA to continue to pay for temporary housing for Puerto Ricans displaced by Hurricane Maria for another 20 days (NYT).
The FAA declared that it is not going to get involved in the issue of the disparity between the width of the average airplane seat and the size of the average American (WaPo).
RULE OF LAW
The House Judiciary panel has subpoenaed former top FBI counterintelligence official Peter Strzok, who sent anti-Trump texts (WaPo).
CHECKS & BALANCES
Current liberal court-packing proposals are dangerously misguided, writes Ilya Somin at The Volokh Conspiracy.
America’s unhealthy obsession with the Supreme Court and the presidency has resulted in relative neglect of Congress and poor governance, writes Tyler Cowen at Bloomberg.
- A stronger Congress could adequately check the Supreme Court, writes Peter Suderman at NYT.
The Senate and the House took discordant actions on the issue of federal worker pay (WaPo).
RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE
The Senate Intelligence Committee released an unclassified report backing up conclusions from U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in the 2016 election with the goal of helping President Trump win (LA Times, Politico).
Tags:
Immigration Rule of Law Conflicts Checks & Balances Regulation Democracy Civil Rights Justice & Safety Russian Interference