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Jacob Miller, Ian Eppler  //  10/29/18  //  Daily Update

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Over 700,000 immigrants face a backlog on applications to become U.S. citizens under the Trump administration, with the process that used to take six months now taking over two years. Harvard’s Institute of Politics Survey suggests Americans under 30 will vote in higher numbers in the 2018 election than they have in previous years. House Republicans' change of the rules in 2015 to allow them to issue subpoenas as the majority party without consulting the minority party may backfire in 2018 if Democrats use it to investigate President Trump. Far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro has been elected the next President of Brazil. President Trump’s promotion of the idea of “America First” has left a number of world leaders less willing to work with the United States at the United Nations.

 

TRUMP: INVESTIGATIONS & LITIGATION

Special Counsel Robert Mueller may not be an officer for Appointments Clause purposes, undermining a line of challenges to his authority, argues Marty Lederman at Just Security.

If Democrats win a majority of seats the House of Representative in 2018, they may risk interfering with Mueller’s investigation if they also begin to investigate President Trump, argues Darren Samuelsohn for Politico.

House Republicans' change of the rules in 2015 to allow them to issue subpoenas as the majority party without consulting the minority party may backfire in 2018 if Democrats use it to investigate President Trump (Politico).

 

IMMIGRATION

Over 700,000 immigrants face a backlog on applications to become U.S. citizens under the Trump administration, with the process that used to take six months now taking over two years (WaPo). 

Secretary of Defense James Mattis approved sending additional troops to the U.S.-Mexico border following President Trump’s request to do so (WSJ).

 

CIVIL RIGHTS 

White supremacists and Neo-Nazis have felt empowered by President Trump, even if they feel his own beliefs fall well short of theirs, writes Charles Blow for the New York Times.

 

DEMOCRACY

Harvard’s Institute of Politics Survey suggests Americans under 30 will vote in higher numbers in the 2018 election than they have in previous years (WaPo).

 

JUSTICE & SAFETY

Far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro has been elected the next President of Brazil (NYT).

Those who knew the Pittsburgh shooting suspect describe a deep anti-semitism as his motivation (NYT, WaPo, WSJ).

President Trump’s promotion of the idea of “America First” has left a number of world leaders less willing to work with the United States at the United Nations (LATimes).

 

REGULATION 

Trump administration policy changes have led to an increase in fracking on public lands, raising environmental concerns, write Eric Lipton and Hiroko Tabuchi in the New York Times.

U.S. farmers are shifting from planting soybeans to planting corn as a result of retaliatory Chinese tariffs, report Jesse Newman and Jacob Bunge in the Wall Street Journal.

A federal district judge appeared skeptical of plaintiff’s arguments in a lawsuit brought by health insurers seeking to block the Trump administration’s regulation expanding access to short-term health insurance plans not subject to Affordable Care Act requirements (The Hill).

 

CHECKS & BALANCES

President Trump’s judicial appointments have largely made conservative courts more so, rather than reshaping the ideological balance of the federal courts, reports Brent Kendall in the Wall Street Journal.

 

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

Elena Khusyaynova, a Russian woman charged with attempting to interfere in the 2018 elections, has not been arrested and is making public appearances, raising questions, notes Quinta Jurecic at Lawfare.

 

Tags:

Immigration Checks & Balances Regulation Democracy Civil Rights Justice & Safety Russian Interference

 

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