Daily Update | September 24, 2019
Nicandro Iannacci // 9/24/19 //
President Trump directed the acting White House chief of staff to freeze millions of dollars in aid for Ukraine just days before the president was scheduled to speak with the Ukrainian president. In light of the Ukrainian revelations, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is again exploring the possibility of impeachment. New York prosecutors asked a federal judge to dismiss President Trump’s suit over their subpoenas of his tax returns from his accounting firm, Mazars USA. Beginning next week, nearly all immigration families who request asylum will be sent to Mexico to wait for a decision. A new study finds that 78 percent of top White House jobs have turned over at least once under President Trump.
TRUMP: INVESTIGATIONS & LITIGATION
The House Ways & Means Committee has standing to sue the Treasury Department for President Trump’s tax returns, write Laurence H. Tribe and Joshua Matz at Take Care.
President Trump directed the acting White House chief of staff to freeze millions of dollars in aid for Ukraine just days before the president was scheduled to speak with the Ukrainian president (NYT, WaPo, WSJ).
- The Democratic chairmen of the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs, and Oversight & Reform Committees threatened to issue subpoenas if the Trump administration did not turn over a transcript of the president’s call and a related whistle-blower complaint (NYT, WaPo).
- Congress has struggled to obtain information about the alleged incident, raising questions about the executive power and congressional oversight (WaPo, WSJ).
- The advocacy group Common Cause filed complaints with the DOJ and FEC for the president’s alleged solicitation of a political contribution from Ukraine (Common Cause).
- If true, the mere solicitation of action from the Ukrainian government amounts to a federal crime, writes Paul S. Ryan at Just Security.
New York prosecutors asked a federal judge to dismiss President Trump’s suit over their subpoenas of his tax returns from his accounting firm, Mazars USA (The Hill, POLITICO).
In his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski made arguments about executive power that are dangerous and Congress should respond to protect its own constitutional powers, writes Margaret L. Taylor at Lawfare.
IMMIGRATION
Beginning next week, nearly all immigration families who request asylum will be sent to Mexico to wait for a decision (WSJ).
The immigration court system is broken and should be replaced by an independent Article I court system, writes Nolan Rappaport at The Hill.
CIVIL RIGHTS
The Supreme Court should reject the anti-abortion movement’s approach to the unworkability of key abortion precedents, writes Mary Ziegler at Take Care.
The Ninth Circuit should reinstate an injunction against the Trump administration’s Title X rule prohibiting abortion referrals, writes Fiona Kaye for the ACLU.
JUSTICE & SAFETY
Federal prosecutors in California have launched an investigation into the e-cigarette maker Juul Labs (WSJ).
The FBI arrested a U.S. soldier who allegedly had plans to bomb a major news network and to target Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke (NYT, WaPo, The Hill).
REGULATION
A new study finds that 78 percent of top White House jobs have turned over at least once under President Trump (WaPo).
More than 75,000 comments were filed in response to the Trump administration’s proposal to cut eligibility for food stamps (NYT).
REMOVAL FROM OFFICE
In light of the Ukrainian revelations, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is again exploring the possibility of impeachment (NYT, WaPo, POLITICO).
- Support for impeachment is also growing among Democratic leaders outside of the House caucus (POLITICO).
- President Trump has a team of lawyers working to stymie impeachment efforts (POLITICO).
- If true, the Ukrainian revelations represent an impeachable offense and Congress should investigate using all of the tools at its disposal, write seven Democratic members of the House in The Washington Post.