,  //  3/29/17  //  Daily Update

President Trump signed an executive order reversing key Obama-era climate change policies. Federal threats to sanctuary cities have provoked backlash. The leaked draft of a "religious freedom" order on LGBT and reproductive rights is constitutionally infirm. President Trump may now seek to sabotage the Affordable Care Act. And fights over the investigation into Russia and the Trump Campaign continue.

IMMIGRATION

The backlash to Presisdent Trump's revised entry ban is not a "revolt of the judges," but rather standard judicial practice in response to extraordinary events, as Leah Litman and Daniel Deacon explain for Take Care.

• Jay Shooster of Just Security echoes this position here.
• Cyrus Mehta critiques President Trump’s immigration rhetoric on the Insightful Immigration Blog.

President Trump could be intentionally stalling the Ninth Circuit revised entry ban appeal, opines Josh Gerstein (Politico)

• Josh Blackman suggests that the Ninth Circuit delay may be procedural.

13 States have filed an amicus brief urging the Fourth Circuit to reverse an injunction halting part of the revised entry ban (Law360).

• Their brief can be found here.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s threat to withdraw federal funds from sanctuary cities could prompt a legal showdown, explains Scott Bomboy for Constitution Daily.

• David Leopold argues that Sessions's legal analysis flawed.
• NYT addresses questions about the Attorney General's threat.

Officials from sanctuary cities around the country met in New York to discuss their response to threats from the Department of Justice (NYT).

• NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman released a statement arguing that Trump lacks the authority to cut off funding to sanctuary jurisdictions.
• At Rewire, Tina Vasquez reports on Schneiderman's statement.

The Chief Justice of California used her annual State of the Judiciary Address to criticize President Trump’s immigration policies (WaPo) (LA Times).

President Trump has proposed $18 billion in domestic budget cuts to finance the border wall (NYT) (Chicago Tribune).

The United States settled for $1 million with an undocumented migrant’s family after border agents beat the family member to death (WaPo).

CIVIL RIGHTS

President Trump’s proposed executive order on religious freedom, LGBT rights, and reproductive freedom has profound constitutional infirmities, argue Ira Lupu and Robert Tuttle on Take Care.

The White House has rescinded an executive order requiring federal contractors to disclose whether they have been liable for discrimination.

• Rachel Tivens of Lamda comments that this sends a message condoning discrimination. 

Republicans should drop their focus on Planned Parenthood in light of the vital services it provides for women, the LA Times Editorial Board suggests.

REGULATION

President Trump signed a landmark executive order to start the process of rolling back many Obama-era climate chance policies (NYT, The Hill, WSJ, WaPo, LA Times). 

• Nadja Popvich contends in NYT that this order pushes the Paris Agreement further out of reach.
• Evan Halper explains that the order delegates greater power to states and localities.
• John Podesta at WaPo argues that the order demonstrates a denial of science.
• At Legal Planet, Sean Hecht identifies resources to help non-experts understand the order, while Dan Farber describes this "frontal assault on climate policy."
• At RegBlog, Bryan Williamson explains how to achieve climate change goals without the Clean Power Plan 
• At Vox, Brad Plumer argues that Trump's order will not bring back many coal jobs, and David Roberts contends that the order is a gift to coal executives.
• Democrats, liberal states, and green groups are bracing for a fight.
• The Guardian documents opposition to the order.
• The Wall Street Journal editorial board applauds the order for unleashing American energy.
• Further analysis comes from Ars Technica and The Intercept.

President Trump has tremendous power to sabotage the Affordable Care Act but should not do so, explain Rachel Sachs and Nick Bagley on Take Care.

• Michael Grunwald at Politico advances four fixes the Trump Administration could implement immediately for the healthcare market.

Repealing the Affordable Care Act is back on the Republican legislative agenda (NYT).

Repealing the Obama-era Department of Labor fiduciary rule would be misguided, as Danielle D'Onfro explains for Take Care in an in-depth analysis.

The future of proposed legislation to weaken the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau is uncertain (Consumer Law & Policy Blog).

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

President Trump is receiving regular financial updates on his businesses, reports Max Yoeli of the Brennan Center for Justice.

The Trump Administration has not kept visitor lots for Mar-a-Lago, reports Politico.

JUSTICE & SECURITY

In a rare en banc session, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court will consider the ACLU's claim that it has standing to assert a First Amendment right to see FISC decisions upholding the government's bulk data collection program (Lawfare).

The Trump Administation must take steps to protect critical infrastructure, argue Joel Brenner and David Clark at Lawfare.

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

Democrats in the House of Representatives have demanded that House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes recuse himself from the panel's investigation of potential ties between Russia and the Trump Campaign (The Hill)

It has been reported that the Trump Administration sought to block former acting Attorney General Sally Yates from testifying before Congress about Russia (WaPo).

• At Lawfare, Helen Murillo and Quinta Jurecic offer a comprehensive legal analysis of the issue.
• The White House has stated that it would like Yates to testify (The Hill).

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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