Rachel Chung  //  11/27/17  //  Daily Update

A legal battle has erupted over who is now the acting director of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau. President Trump has reaffirmed his support for Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore. A leading conservative commentator has proposed that Congress dramatically expand the federal courts, allowing President Trump to appoint more judges. 

IMMIGRATION

Judicial rulings against President Trump’s effort to deny federal funds to sanctuary cities are also victories for federalism and separation of powers, contends Ilya Somin at The Volokh Conspiracy.

Increased deportations in Atlanta could prove a model for the rest of the country as the Trump Administration continues to target undocumented immigrants, writes Vivian Yee at the New York Times.

JUSTICE & SAFETY

Despite intense focus on the Russia probe, Attorney General Jeff Sessions is implementing his nationalist views by methodically reshaping the Justice Department, write Matt Zapotosky and Sari Horwitz at the Washington Post.

REGULATION

On Friday, Richard Cordray resigned as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). He named Leondra English as its Acting Director. But President Trump appointed his own Acting Director, Mick Mulvaney. Late Sunday night, English filed suit against Trump and Mulvaney, seeking emergency relief. (NYT, Politico).

• English's complaint and motion for a temporary restraining order can be found here.
• The Dodd-Frank Act, which established the CFPB, lays out the path of succession (NYT).
• Here on Take Care, Brianne Gorod has explained why English is now the Acting Director
• Other scholars have weighed in on different sides of the issue, including Daniel Hemel, Marty Lederman, Nina Mendelson, and Adam White. 
• The Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) issued a memo defending Mulvaney's appointment (here).
• The OLC Memo omits key analysis, argues Adam Levitin at Credit Slips.
• A writ of quo warranto could decide who holds the office, notes Sam Bray at the Volokh Conspiracy.
• The Administration could simply fire English as Acting Director, but that would cause problems by acknowledging that she held the position (Josh Blackman’s Blog).
• According to Reuters, a top lawyer at the CFPB has concluded that Trump has the authority to appoint Mulvaney.

Although Nebraska approved the Keystone XL pipeline last week, Pipeline supporters must still seek Bureau of Land Management permits and will likely face lawsuits challenging the decision (The Hill).

President Trump has not seen notable legislative successes, but has made dramatic strides to undo Obama-era regulation and executive action, observes Dan Balz at the Washington Post.

RULE OF LAW

President Trump has reaffirmed his support for Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore (WaPo, NYT).

• The President has privately acknowledged that his support is a political calculus (NYT).

Steven Calabresi has proposed that Congress dramatically expand the federal courts, allowing President Trump to appoint more judges. The proposal has sparked extensive criticism from legal commentators.

• The original proposal is here.
• The proposal would delegitimize judicial review and pit Democratic-appointed judges as subverting the rule of law, argues Richard Primus at the Harvard Law Review Blog.
• The Democrats, not just Republicans, should consider expanding the Supreme Court to eleven Justices, contends Mark Tushnet at Balkinization.
• Though inadvisable, the proposal is but another effort by the current conservative coalition to maintain its power, writes Jack Balkin at Balkinization.
• Legislators should be held to “role restraints,” just as we hold judges to judicial restraint, argues Neil Siegel at Balkinization.

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

The FBI failed to inform U.S. government officials that a Russian operation was trying to access their personal emails (The Hill, AP).