Christina Ford  //  10/4/17  //  Daily Update

Two new legal challenges have been filed against the Trump Administration’s latest travel ban. At a hearing, General Mattis and other top military officials endorsed staying in the Iran deal, contradicting President Trump’s earlier position. Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the EPA, has spent much of his time meeting with industry officials, some of whom have high-profile matters pending before the agency. President Trump’s nominee to serve as a Federal District Judge in Oklahoma received a rare “not qualified” recommendation from the ABA. Special Counsel Robert Mueller has asked his team of lawyers to research the limits of the pardon power.

IMMIGRATION

Two new legal challenges have been filed against the Trump Administration’s latest travel ban (ImmigrationProf Blog).

• Iranian Alliances Across Borders v. Trump is the first major lawsuit to be filed against the latest iteration of the Muslim ban. You can read the complaint here.
• The Brennan Center for Justice has filed suit against the State Department to compel the Administration to explain how it chose the countries in the latest ban. You can read the complaint here.

DEMOCRACY

Three developments could threaten the absolutism of the First Amendment, writes Zachary Price at Take Care.

New documents from the Pence-Kobach Voter Fraud Commission raise concerns about Commission’s intentions (Huffington Post).

At the Gill v. Whitford oral argument, Justice Kennedy indicated he may be ready to rein in partisan gerrymandering and Chief Justice Roberts expressed concerns about jumping into the political thicket (Election Law Blog).

JUSTICE & SAFETY

Members of Congress are frustrated with the Pentagon’s lack of transparency regarding its plan for Afghanistan (WaPo).

A directive from the Department of Defense provides insight into the Pentagon’s policy on detention (Lawfare).

The State Department’s reorganization could undermine cyber diplomacy, writes Garrett Hinck at Lawfare.

At a hearing, General Mattis and other top military officials endorsed staying in the Iran deal, contradicting President Trump’s earlier position (WaPo).

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the EPA, has spent much of his time meeting with industry officials, some of whom have high-profile matters pending before the agency (NYT).

After Jared Kushner’s use private email accounts for White House business became public, Kushner and Ivanka Trump moved their personal email accounts to Trump Organization servers (ArsTechnica).

REGULATION

The EPA missed a legal deadline to start implementing regulation limiting ozone pollution (The Hill).

The ACLU has sued the FDA over its restrictions which significantly limit access to abortion pills (The Hill).

RULE OF LAW

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel said U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley violated the Hatch Act when she used her Twitter account to retweet the President’s endorsement of candidates (The Hill).

• You can read the letter from the Office of the Special Counsel here.

CHECKS & BALANCES

President Trump’s nominee to serve as a Federal District Judge in Oklahoma received a rare “not qualified” recommendation from the ABA (Buzzfeed).

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

Special Counsel Robert Mueller has asked his team of lawyers to research the limits of the pardon power (Bloomberg; The Hill).

Evidence is mounting that the White House is increasingly concerned about damaging findings from the Russia investigation, writes Ryan Goodman at Just Security.

Senator Ron Wyden has asked six voting machine manufacturers for information about their cybersecurity efforts and whether their machines could have been hacked (The Hill).