Daily Update | May 9, 2017
Julia Sherman, Britany Riley // 5/9/17 //
President Trump’s campaign rhetoric was the primary focus of Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals oral arguments on the revised entry ban. Former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates testified that she warned the White House that Michael Flynn could be blackmailed by Russia. The EPA Administrator dismissed half of the scientific advisers on a key board. And no women have been included in the Republican effort to rewrite the health care bill in the Senate.
IMMIGRATION
President Trump’s campaign rhetoric was the primary focus of Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals oral arguments on the revised entry ban (WaPo, NYT, Politico).
The revised entry ban is the product of religious animus that violates the Establishment Clause, argue Micah Schwartzman Nelson Tebbe at Take Care.
Josh Blackman (Josh Blackman’s Blog) and Jane Chong (Lawfare) each provided real-time analysis of the arguments.
- Take Care has extensive analysis on the travel ban here.
The pause on refugee interviews has brought refugee resettlement to a grinding halt, notes the LA Times editorial board.
CIVIL RIGHTS
The Trump Administration’s theory of discrimination is under-inclusive and unsupported by case law, argues Leah Litman at Take Care.
The Affordable Care Act replacement bill will especially harm people with disabilities, argue Vania Leveille and Susan Mizner of the ACLU.
- It is a betrayal of once bipartisan efforts, argues Robyn Powell (Rewire).
President Trump’s statements questioning the constitutionality of granting federal funds to historically black colleges and universities is ill-informed and could seriously threaten these institutions, notes Michael Dorf at Dorf on Law.
DEMOCRACY
Preclearance orders may return as courts around the country strike down discriminatory voting rights laws, suggests Pema Levy (Mother Jones).
JUSTICE & SAFETY
In a New York Times opinion piece, Senator John McCain sharply criticized Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for foreign policy which abandons human rights victims and American values.
A new suit against the seeks documents detailing the Trump Administration’s justifications for military action in Syria (Lawfare).
The ACLU filed a Freedom of Information Act suit seeking documents related to President Trump’s unsuccessful Yemen raid (ACLU).
Budget measures aimed at bolstering military presence in Asia are costly and unnecessary, argues John Glaser (Cato@Liberty).
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
Shareholder proposals could held keep President Trump’s conflicts of interest in check, argues Michael Maruca (GAB).
REGULATION
The EPA Administrator dismissed half of the scientific advisers on key Board of Scientific Counselors (WaPo, The Hill).
The courts shouldn’t give President Trump the cover to leave the Clean Power Plan, writes Brianne Gorod (Notice & Comment).
No women have been included in the Republican effort to rewrite the health care bill in the Senate (NYT).
At the Washington Post, Eugene Robinson writes that President Trump and the House Republicans are paving the road to a single-payer health care system.
The argument that Obama-era monument designations are new or inappropriate is a false narrative, argues Sean B. Hecht (Legal Planet).
CHECKS & BALANCES
President Trump may have already lost the degree of judicial deference traditionally accorded to the President, argues Dawn Johnsen at Take Care.
RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE
Former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates testified that she warned the White House that Michael Flynn could be blackmailed by Russia (NYT, WaPo, The Guardian).
President Obama also personally warned President-elect Trump against hiring Flynn last fall (NYT, WaPo, WSJ).
The conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch has filed a FOIA request for Sally Yates’ emails from her time as Acting Attorney General (Politico).
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