, Julia Sherman  //  3/28/17  //  Daily Update

The Fourth Circuit may grant initial en banc hearing of the revised entry ban challenge. DHS and ICE have been sued for their cellphone and laptop searches at the borders. Attorney General Sessions has threatened to pull funds from sanctuary cities. The White House has announced a new "Office of Innovation" led by Jared Kushner. And President Trump is expected to announce a major climate change order today. 

IMMIGRATION

DOJ’s brief defending President Trump's revised entry ban on appeal in the Fourth Circuit is riddled with factual and legal errors, as Leah Litman explains for Take Care.

• Matthew Segal of the ACLU argues that President Trump’s campaign statements must be considered in judicial review of the revised entry ban.

The Fourth Circuit may bypass panel review and grant initial en banc hearing of the challenge to President Trump’s revised entry ban (Lyle Denniston, Politico).

• Here is the Fourth Circuit’s order.

The Knight First Amendment Institute has sued DHS and ICE over cellphone and laptop record searches at the border (US News and World Report).

• The complaint can be found here.
• Murtaza Hussain offers analysis at The Intercept.
• Cyrus Farivar of Ars Technica covers the suit here.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has threatened to strip grants to state and local law enforcement from sanctuary cities (WaPo) (NPR).

• The LA Times reports that sanctuary city leaders vow to stand firm.
• At Notice & Comment, Bernard W. Bell argues that President Trump’s executive order is likely unconstitutional on anti-commandeering grounds.

Los Angeles should provide attorneys to immigrants in the wake of escalating immigration raids, argues Bruce Einhorn (LA Times).

CIVIL RIGHTS

Arguing that Democrats underestimated the role of abortion in the election, Thomas Groome implores the party to re-think its position on the issue (NYT).

Analyzing President Trump’s male-dominated administration, Jill Filipovic suggests that the all-male photographs of President Trump signing women’s health legislation are intentional and strategic (NYT).

REGULATION

The White House has announced a new "Office of Innovation" headed by President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

• Niko Bowie explains at Take Care that Kushner will lack the power to shrink government, partly due to limitations imposed by anti-nepotism rules.
• John D. Michaels notes on Take Care that Kushner promises to run the federal government like a business, but lacks an understanding of government—and of business.

On Tuesday, President Trump will sign an executive order that dramatically rolls back Obama-era climate policies (WaPo, The Guardian, Bloomberg).

• At Take Care, Ann Carlson argues that drastic cuts to key climate programs may have the same effect as an explicit withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.
• Brad Plumer surveys the expected scope of President Trump's order at Vox.
• President Trump will be unable to fulfill his unrealistic promises on coal, writes the Boston Globe Editorial Board.
• The Hill explains what to watch for in the climate change order.

At Take Care, Nick Bagley describes why executive orders aren’t the final say for federal agencies.

President Trump has repealed a rule requiring federal contractors to disclose labor violations, generally known as the “blacklisting rule” (The Hill).

President Trump has signed bills repealing rules addressing teacher preparation and school accountability (The Hill).

Congress will vote Tuesday on whether to repeal FCC rules regarding privacy regulations for consumer data (The Hill).

• Peter Eckersley and Jeremy Gillula describe how cybersecurity would be affected by repeal (Electronic Frontier Foundation).

President Trump’s nominee to run FDA compares favorably with recent nominees, but still poses problems, according to Dan Farber (Legal Planet).

JUSTICE & SAFETY

Rep. Devin Nunes has acknowledged that he made a visit to the White House to view intelligence files regarding President Trump’s wiretapping claims (NYT, WaPo).

• Amber Phillips argues this disclosure makes it harder for Republicans to claim they will impartially investigate Russian interference (WaPo).

The United States has spoken out against a United Nations effort to ban nuclear weapons, joining other major powers in their protest (WaPo).

• The U.S. should use this opportunity to evaluate its position on the use of nuclear weapons, argue Lt. Col. Ted Richard and Sean Watts at Just Security.

At Just Security, Oona Hathaway gives possible explanations for the recent rise in civilian casualties in Iraq and Syria (Just Security).

San Francisco is setting an example of how cities can resist federal surveillance of targeted groups, note Michael German and Emily Hockett at Just Security.

Leaks pose a host of legal and ethical issues, which Ryan E. Long addresses for the Center for Internet and Society.

DEMOCRACY

The best way to avoid foreign interference in American elections would be to update voting technology, argues Christopher Famighetti at the Brennan Center for Justice.

CHECKS & BALANCES

GOP control of the federal government will not save Trump’s presidency, warns Josh Chaftez on Take Care.

Despite the failure of his efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, President Trump’s presidency has been largely successful so far, writes James Hohmann (WaPo).

REMOVAL FROM OFFICE

Proposals for a "special election," potentially in response to evidence of Russian interference with the 2016 Presidential Election, raise major constitutional, political, and policy questions, as Ian Samuel explains on Take Care.

• Ian’s article responds to an Atlantic essay by David Frum

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

Former Vice President Dick Cheney has stated that Russian interference in the presidential election could be considered an “act of war” (The Hill).

At Just Security, Jack Goldsmith considers potential concerns with a select congressional committee to investigate Russian interference.

And that's our update today!  Thanks for reading.  We cover a lot of ground, so our updates are inevitably a partial selection of relevant legal commentary.  

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