Jacqueline Sahlberg, Caroline Cox  //  9/21/17  //  Daily Update

Due to concerns about processing 50,000 applications, the Department of Homeland Security has recommended cutting the number of refugees allowed into the country in 2018 to 40,000. rump says he has made a decision on the Iran deal, but has not announced the decision. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and other watchdog groups filed a motion seeking a federal court order requiring the Trump Administration to explain the decision to withhold visitor logs from Mar-a-Lago. President Trump endorsed the Graham-Cassidy healthcare bill, the latest effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Special Counsel Robert Mueller has requested from the White House documents about the firings of former F.B.I. director James Comey and former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

IMMIGRATION

Trump is using Facebook advertisements to tell supporters that he will build the border wall (The Hill, Buzzfeed).

Due to concerns about processing 50,000 applications, the Department of Homeland Security has recommended cutting the number of refugees allowed into the country in 2018 to 40,000 (Politico).

• The U.S. is accepting 54 refugees from Australia’s offshore camps, honoring an Obama administration agreement (NYT).

DEMOCRACY

Documents show that a Trump nominee for Deputy United States Trade Representative may have voted illegally (NYT, WaPo).

JUSTICE & SAFETY

Trump says he has made a decision on the Iran deal, but has not announced the decision (NYT, WaPo).

Advocacy groups are asking legislators not to support a DOJ proposal that would allow foreign governments to directly receive data from US communications providers (The Hill).

Attorney General Sessions strategies to prevent crime is a “criminologist’s nightmare,” writes David M. Kennedy.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

A favored candidate for the Federal Reserve chair has close ties through his father to President Trump, reports Victoria Guida at Politico.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and other watchdog groups filed a motion seeking a federal court order requiring the Trump Administration to explain the decision to withhold visitor logs from Mar-a-Lago (The Hill).

• The motion is available here.

REGULATION

A Comcast vice-president expressed optimism about getting federal approval for mergers more easily under the Trump Administration than in prior administrations (Ars Technica).

EPA agents who would normally investigate environmental crimes are now serving on a rotating basis as part of EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's security detail (WaPo).

President Trump endorsed the Graham-Cassidy healthcare bill, the latest effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act (WaPo).

The Federal Reserve announced that it will pare down its bond holdings from the 2008 financial crisis (WSJ, LA Times).

CHECKS & BALANCES

A federal district judicial nominee described transgender children as being involved in “Satan’s plan” and previously said no provision of the Constitution guarantees the separation of church and state (The Hill, Texas Tribune).

President Trump’s actions are testing the Constitution, and the Constitution is holding up, writes Noah Feldman at Bloomberg.

FEDERALISM

The California Attorney General announced a lawsuit against the Trump Administration for its plans to build a U.S.–Mexico wall (LA Times, Politico).

REMOVAL FROM OFFICE

President Trump’s approval ratings have slowly increased over the last month (Politico, WaPo).

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

Special Counsel Robert Mueller has requested from the White House documents about the firings of former F.B.I. director James Comey and former national security adviser Michael Flynn (NYT).

Trump’s campaign chairman Paul Manafort offered to provide a Russian billionaire with “private briefings” during the 2016 election (WaPo).

• Manafort also used his presidential campaign email address to contact a Ukrainian political operative with suspected ties to Russian intelligence (Politico).

Using Facebook, Russian propagandists appear to have organized pro-Trump rallies in Florida during the presidential election (Daily Beast).

Democrats in Congress asked the Federal Election Commission to develop rules for online advertising that prevent foreign spending from influencing elections (The Hill).

Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s statement to the Senate “does not appear to have any clear strategy” and portions read “like a political speech,” argues Renato Mariotti at Just Security.

The Republican National Committee is using money intended for election-related legal matters to pay for President Trump’s legal fees related to the Russia investigations (WaPo).