Mackenzie Walz  //  10/9/19  //  Daily Update

The White House issued a scathing letter to Democratic congressional leaders indicating it will not participate in the impeachment inquiry. The Administration directed U.S. Ambassador to the EU, Gordon Sondland, not to appear for his deposition before the House committees. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, Lindsey Graham, invited Rudy Giuliani, President Trump’s personal lawyer, to testify about the Ukraine scandal before the committee. The ACLU filed a lawsuit against DHS, alleging the Department is improperly using mandatory marriage interviews as a way to detain and remove immigrants from the US. The Senate Intelligence Committee released Volume 2 of its report on Russian interference in the 2016 Election, including recommendations for preventing future election interference.

IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY

The Administration directed U.S. Ambassador to the EU, Gordon Sondland, not to appear for his deposition before the House committees (WaPo; POLITICO; WSJ).

• This intervention signals the Administration will stonewall the impeachment, contend Nicholas Fandos and Michael S. Schmidt for the New York Times.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, Lindsey Graham, invited Rudy Giuliani, President Trump’s personal lawyer, to testify about the Ukraine scandal before the committee (WaPo).

The White House issued a scathing letter to Democratic congressional leaders indicating it will not participate in the impeachment inquiry (NPR; WSJ).

• The letter is available here.
• This refusal to cooperate establishes a precedent for future presidents to utilize (The Volokh Conspiracy).

IMMIGRATION

The ACLU filed a lawsuit against DHS, alleging the Department is improperly using mandatory marriage interviews as a way to detain and remove immigrants from the US (The Hill).

The number of migrants caught or denied at the southern border dropped 18% in September, marking the fourth straight month of decline (POLITICO; WaPo).

DEMOCRACY

China rejected President Trump’s request to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, affirming the country has no intention of intervening in US domestic affairs (POLITICO).

JUSTICE & SAFETY

President Trump is correct that the US military is over involved in national conflicts, but withdrawing troops from Syria isn’t the solution, discusses Henry Olsen for The Washington Post.

The US and Japan entered a trade agreement, consisting of tariff liberalization, discusses Simon Lester for the CATO Institute.

• The text of the agreement is available here.

REGULATION

In August, President Trump issued Executive Order 13884, which Adobe has interpreted broadly to prohibit virtually all transactions by US companies in Venezuela (arstechnica).

• The Executive Order is available here.
• None of the Administration’s top five claims of the benefits of tariffs and aggressive negotiating tactics have panned out, argues Veronique de Rugy for The New York Times.

RULE OF LAW

The Administration’s request that the President be granted the power to fire administrative agency heads for any reason ignores the President’s constitutional obligation of “faithful execution,” argue Jed Handelsman Shugerman and Ethan Leib for The New York Times.

It’s unclear from oral argument in the Title VII discrimination cases whether Justice Gorsuch will adhere to his rule of following the law, discusses Leah Litman for Take Care.

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

The Senate Intelligence Committee released Volume 2 of its report on Russian interference in the 2016 Election, including recommendations for preventing future election interference (The Hill; Lawfare; NPR).

• Volume 2 of the report is available here.