Ian Eppler, Jacqueline Sahlberg  //  9/18/17  //  Daily Update

A federal court granted a nationwide preliminary injunction, ruling against Justice Department’s effort to withhold funding from sanctuary cities. The Pentagon issued guidance stating that transgender troops serving in the military can re-enlist, while the Defense Department determines how to enact Trump’s transgender troops ban. The Department of Justice has moved to dismiss a lawsuit by over 200 members of Congress that challenged President Trump’s failure to divest from his business as violative of the Emoluments Clause. California’s Assembly approved a bill that would require presidential candidates to release tax returns in order to appear on the primary ballot.

IMMIGRATION

A federal court granted a nationwide preliminary injunction, ruling against Justice Department’s effort to withhold funding from sanctuary cities (WaPo, Chicago Tribune, Reuters, Atlantic).

• The judge’s order is available here.

CIVIL RIGHTS

The Pentagon issued guidance stating that transgender troops serving in the military can re-enlist, while the Defense Department determines how to enact Trump’s transgender troops ban (The Hill).

Senator John McCain is supporting legislation to block Trump’s transgender troops ban (WaPo).

JUSTICE & SAFETY

With an American citizen being held as an enemy combatant, Robert Chesney outlines the detention and prosecution options (Lawfare).

The Justice Department is changing  a program designed to improve relations between police and communities (The Hill).

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

The Department of Justice has moved to dismiss a lawsuit by over 200 members of Congress that challenged President Trump’s failure to divest from his business as violative of the Emoluments Clause (The Hill).

• The motion to dismiss is available here.

The Trump Organization is losing some customers, but is gaining business from political events and from customers who want something from the government (WaPo).

Newly released documents show that the National Security Council spent more than $1,000 to stay for two nights at Mar-a-Lago (WaPo, Slate, The Hill).

California’s Assembly approved a bill that would require presidential candidates to release tax returns in order to appear on the primary ballot (Politico).

REGULATION

With the support of the Trump administration, Senate Republicans are attempting a last-ditch to secure support for the Graham-Cassidy bill that would repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (Politico).

While the Trump administration and Congress are behaving as though the opportunity to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act through reconciliation ends on September 30, this is not the case, notes Sam Wice at Notice and Comment.

The Trump administration may have reversed its decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement, with a senior administration official offering to remain in the agreement “under the right conditions” (WSJ).

• However, the administration denied this (Politico).

Many individuals hired for jobs at the EPA under President Trump have no background in environmental protection, but have extensive ties to polluting industries, according to a new report (The Hill).

The Department of the Interior is studying a proposal to eliminate restrictions on seismic studies in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which may be a first step to allowing drilling in the refuge (NYT, WaPo).

The Federal Aviation Administration has proposed the elimination of over 50 aviation safety regulations (WSJ).

RULE OF LAW

Litigation over the constitutionality of President Trump’s pardon of former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio continues, notes Dahlia Lithwick at Slate.

CHECKS & BALANCES

Senate Republican leaders are continuing to consider elimination of the “blue slip” process to facilitate confirmation of President Trump’s judicial nominees (The Hill).

Senate Republicans’ behavior around blue slips is hypocritical, argues the New York Times editorial board.

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

In response to a warrant, Facebook has turned over detailed records on Russian ad purchases during the 2016 election to Special Counsel Robert Mueller (CNN, WSJ)

The production included information that was not provided in response to a similar Congressional request, so congressional investigators are likely to ask Facebook for more information on Russian ad purchases during the 2016 election (The Hill).

The Trump administration’s efforts to push the intelligence agencies to neglect investigations into Russian interference may cause lasting damage to them in the form of politicization, writes Joshua Rovner at Lawfare.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) suggested that the White House pardon Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in exchange for evidence that would purportedly exonerate Russia of involvement in hacking of the Democratic National Committee’s email system (WSJ).

Kyle Freeny, a federal prosecutor with a background in money laundering cases, has joined Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team (Politico).

The investigation into Russian interference is creating a significant financial burden for many Trump aides, as many of them have retained private counsel (WSJ).

Congressional hearings are likely to do more to harm President Trump’s political standing than the Special Counsel investigation, argue Niall Ferguson and Joshua Zoffer at The Atlantic.