Karen Kadish  //  11/1/19  //  Daily Update

The full House approves guidelines for impeachment in a vote along party lines. A district court hears argument on a case that could determine whether the Administration can invoke executive privilege to prevent a wide swath of testimony. And a new, high-profile suit about facial recognition is filed against the Administration by the ACLU.

IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY

The House of Representatives approved guidelines for a public impeachment inquiry, voting almost entirely along party lines. (WaPo;NYT; WSJ)

• Molly E. Reynolds and Margaret Taylor at Lawfare offer a breakdown of the House resolution on impeachment.
• The guidelines include a discretionary measure that would disallow the participation of President Trump’s attorneys if the White House continues to refuse to produce documents or continues to prevent witnesses from testifying. (Just Security)
• The partisan split of the vote has led some commentators to suggest that President Trump enjoys support among House Republicans. (The Atlantic)

Timothy Morrison, a National Security Council aide, testified in a closed deposition and said that a top diplomat suggested that a military aid package for Ukraine was conditioned on investigations into President Trump’s political rivals. (NYT; WaPo; WSJ)

 President Trump’s claims that the White House can block congressional subpoenas of White House staff was sharply questioned by the presiding judge in a proceeding in the D.C. District Court. (NYT; WSJ)

• In a separate, but similar hearing, a District Court judge in D.C. accelerated a case involving key impeachment witnesses that House Democrats are seeking to compel, setting oral arguments for December 10. (The Hill)

Democrats should not focus the impeachment investigation solely on the Ukraine foreign-policy decisions, but should include other unacceptable conduct such as the Trump campaign's potential involvement with Russia during the 2016 elections, writes Neil H. Buchanan at Lawfare.

Charlotte Butash analyses how impeachment contrasts and works alongside judicial review of executive actions. (Lawfare)

IMMIGRATION

Several immigration-advocacy groups have sued the Trump administration, challenging President Trump’s decision to allow the U.S. government to deny visa applications of immigrants that it determines will not be able to pay for health insurance or cover medical costs in the United States. (ImmigrationProf Blog)

CIVIL RIGHTS 

The ACLU has sued the DOJ, DEA, and FBI seeking information about facial-recognition programs being used by these agencies, reports Kate Cox at ArsTechnica.

JUSTICE & SAFETY

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo publicly criticized the Chinese Communist Party as well as former United States administrations as far back as the Nixon administraton for their handling of the U.S.-China relationship, reports Matthew Lee atThe Washington Post.

REGULATION

A federal court recently found the Department of Education and Betsey DeVos to be in civil contempt, and ordered $100,000 sanctions, for failing to adhere to an injunction regarding private education loans, writes Nicholas R. Parillo at Notice and Comment.

CHECKS & BALANCES

Executive privilege should be viewed as an extremely narrow limit on Congress’s implied oversight authority, offers Jonathan Shaub at Lawfare.