Karen Kadish  //  6/21/18  //  Daily Update

President Trump signed an Executive Order providing for parents and children to be housed together while awaiting immigration adjudication. HUD has issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking to solicit comments on whether to revise its 2013 Disparate Impact Rule. The White House plans to propose combining the Department of Education and the Department of Labor. The Senate Intelligence Committee held a hearing on the policy response to Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections.

IMMIGRATION

After an intense public outcry surrounding the separation of families entering the United States across the US-Mexico border, President Trump signed an Executive Order on Wednesday afternoon, providing for parents and children to be housed together while awaiting immigration adjudication.

• Read the full text of the Executive Order here.
• An analysis of the Order is available here.
• There have been several critiques of the Executive Order because it allows for long-term detention of minors and because many families will remain separated. (Crimmigration; NYT)
• Background information on separation of immigrant families and on immigration policy is available at The Marshall Project
• Mass public outcry has been aroused not only by the policy of family separation, but also by concerns regarding the safety and habitability of detention centers, writes ImmigrationProf Blog.

Previously, the Trump administration had spoken in support of zero-tolerance immigration policies, and had refused to address the family separation at the border, provoking significant criticism by political opponents.

• A collection of statements on both sides is available in a video produced by Neeti Upadhye at The New York Times.

CIVIL RIGHTS

HUD has issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking to solicit comments on whether to revise its 2013 Disparate Impact Rule, writes Richard J. Andreano, Jr. at Ballard Spahr.

JUSTICE & SAFETY

Andrea Hall, the National Security Council’s expert on weapons of mass destruction, has left the Trump administration, causing concerns about the future of negotiations with North Korea, report John Hudson and Karen De Young at The Washington Post.

• In the meantime, the military is expecting the repatriation of U.S. service members’ remains. (WaPo).

REGULATION

The EPA has proposed a rule that will limit the scientific data that the agency considers when making policy, provoking concern from the scientific community, write Wendy E. Wagner and Rena Steinzor at The Regulatory Review.

The White House plans to propose combining the Department of Education and the Department of Labor, reports Michelle Hackman at The Wall Street Journal.

A federal judge ordered the Department of Education to stop collecting on debt from students who were defrauded by for-profit university Corinthian College and who took out a direct private loan to pay tuition, reports Lydia Wheeler at The Hill.

CHECKS & BALANCES

There has been debate over the president’s authority to pardon him- or herself. Legal scholars have largely concluded that the president cannot self-pardon.

• The Constitution does not give the President the power to undermine democratic safeguards, writes Amanda Shanor at Take Care.
• The President cannot pardon himself because he is charged with faithfully executing the laws, writes Phillip Bobbitt at Lawfare.

Joshua Matz and Jeffrey Rosen addressed the history of impeachment, self-pardons, conspiring with foreign powers, and other issues of executive authority in an interview published by the National Constitution Center.

REMOVAL FROM OFFICE

“High crimes and misdemeanors,” which are the basis for impeachment, must involve criminal offenses, writes Nikolas Bowie at Take Care. 

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

The Senate Intelligence Committee held a hearing on the policy response to Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections. (Footage available here).