,  //  3/30/17  //  Daily Update

Trump's climate change order has sparked strong reactions. The fate of healthcare reform and the operative healthcare system remain uncertain. Congress has passed a bill gutting significant online privacy protections. Trump has removed questions about sexual orientation and gender identity from the 2020 census. The House Intelligence Committee's investigation into potential collusion between the Trump Campaign and Russia is mired in controversy. And battles over immigration policy persist.

IMMIGRATION

The First Amendment applies to noncitizens, it applies abroad, and it applies to noncitizens abroad, as Niko Bowie and Leah Litman explain on Take Care.

Trump Administration lawyers would support review of the revised entry ban by an en banc panel of the Fourth Circuit, but only if that would not slow things down, Lyle Denniston reports.

• Tina Vasquez explains the privacy consequences of the revised entry ban for noncitizens who are not green card holders.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has proposed building a border wall on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande (WaPo).

• This proposal has garnered criticism from Democrats (The Hill).
• Patrick Clark suggests that the cheapest way to build the wall might be to use the U.S. military (Bloomberg).

Human rights advocates say ICE has frequently refused to comply with a policy that allows the public to monitor conditions in detention centers, according to Renée Faltz (Rewire).

Hundreds of churches are ready to fight the Trump Administration to prevent immigrants living legally in the U.S. from being deported, as Adrian Florido explains on an NPR podcast.

CIVIL RIGHTS

At a women’s empowerment panel, President Trump pledged access to affordable child care (video here).

The Trump Administration nixed a proposal to include a question about sexual orientation and gender identity in the US Census (Rewire).

• The Human Rights Campaign responded by filing a FOIA request with the Department of Commerce for communications related to this decision.

In response to President Trump’s proposed budget cut for the Legal Service Corporation (“LSC”), the general counsel from 185 major companies send a letter urging Congress to save LSC (here).

The Trump Administration has announced that it will create a task force on opioid addiction, to be headed by Chris Christie.

JUSTICE & SAFETY

The Trump Administration’s reduced commitment to human rights internationally will hurt American foreign policy, cautions Julia Sherman on Take Care.

• At Lawfare, Ingrid Wuerth notes that the Trump Administration has complied with international law thus far.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

A Chinese company with ownership ties to the Communist Party has ended talks with Jared Kushner’s family over a Manhattan office tower, reports NYT.

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, President Trump’s nominee to lead the FDA, has reported receiving millions of dollars from large drug makers in recent years, reports NYT.

Senators Elizabeth Warren and Tom Carper wrote to the Office of Government Ethics to ensure Ivanka Trump complies with all ethics laws as she expands her role in the White House (Politico).

President Trump’s company will seek to add a second, lower-priced hotel Washington, D.C. (WaPo).

REGULATION

President Trump’s climate executive order will cause immediate harm to vulnerable Americans, argues Eli Savit on Take Care.

• At Legal Planet, Nicholas Bryner forecasts that the order will hinder agencies’ efforts to make informed, rational decisions.
• Also at Legal Planet, Dan Farber analyzes key issues the order did not address, including climate change and the Paris Agreement.
• At Vox, David Roberts argues that the order's most dangerous result is the message it sends to the rest of the world.
• Tom DiChristopher, at CNBC, projects remaining legal hurdles for the order.
• At The New Yorker, Carolyn Kormann argues that the Administration’s order denies science and economics.
• Jonathan Chait contends the order is an angry reflex in search of an idea at New York Magazine.
• Experts report that the order will not stop the loss of coal jobs, since industry has moved toward natural gas (WaPo).
• At NYT, Edward Wong predicts that China will now lead the world in complying with the Paris Agreement.

The FCC's decision to lift caps on the cost of prison inmates’ intrastate phone calls demonstrates the Administration’s willingness to read the Communications Act anachronistically, contends Daniel Deacon on Take Care.

The Trump Administration could detonate the Affordable Care Act’s individual marketplaces by dropping the appeal in a lawsuit that (surprisingly) gained traction, argues Nicholas Bagley in an in-depth analysis of House v. Price.

• At WaPo, Greg Sargent looks at fixes Democrats could propose to President Trump.
• At NYT, Ross Douthat observes that, thus far, little research has shown the Affordable Care Act has improved mortality rates.
• Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price testified today in front of House appropriators (WaPo).
• Liberals see new opportunities with healthcare improvements after last week’s failed vote (WaPo).
• House Republicans are considering a vote on the repeal of the Affordable Care Act next week (Bloomberg).
• Senator Ted Cruz has offerred a proposal on how to repeal the Affordable Care Act (Politico).
• Health insurance companies are now deciding whether to participate in 2018 marketplaces (The Hill).

A bill that would allow internet service providers to market customers' browsing history to third parties, without customer permission, is heading to President Trump's desk (ABA Journal).

• FCC Chairman Ajit Pai views the bill favorably.
• Glenn Greenwald argues the House vote illustrates the power of telecom giants in Washington at The Intercept.

RULE OF LAW

Lawyers for President Trump argue that the president is immune from civil suits in a defamation case brought by a former Apprentice contestant, reports WaPo.

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes has undermined checks and balances, argues David Corn at Mother Jones.

• Frank Bruni, at NYT, contends that Nunes is working for President Trump and must recuse himself.
• Meanwhile, Nunes has blamed Democrats for hurting the panel’s investigation (Politico).
• Senator Richard Burr, the Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman, promises a fair investigation (LA Times).

The decision by the White House to prevent acting Attorney General Sally Yates from testifying demonstrated the Trump Administration’s aggressive approach to executive privilege, argues Andy Wright in an in-depth report at Just Security.

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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