Mackenzie Walz  //  9/25/19  //  Daily Update

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi officially announced an impeachment inquiry against President Trump in light of the Ukraine scandal and whistleblower complaint. President Trump will release the fully declassified and unredacted transcript of his phone call with the Ukrainian President at the center of the recent whistleblower complaint. The House Ways and Means Committee urged a federal judge to deny President Trump’s motion to dismiss their lawsuit aimed at obtaining his tax returns. The House of Representatives passed a resolution reaffirming US commitment to addressing global refugee crises. The Department of Labor issued a rule extending overtime eligibility to 1.3 million workers, effective January of 2020.

TRUMP: INVESTIGATIONS AND LITIGATION

The House Ways and Means Committee urged a federal judge to deny President Trump’s motion to dismiss their lawsuit aimed at obtaining his tax returns (The Hill).

President Trump will release the fully declassified and unredacted transcript of his phone call with the Ukrainian President at the center of the recent whistleblower complaint (POLITICO; NPR; WSJ).

IMMIGRATION

The Administration will no longer release family units apprehended at the border, terminating the policy known as “catch and release” (NPR).

The House of Representatives passed a resolution reaffirming US commitment to addressing global refugee crises (The Hill).

CIVIL RIGHTS

The antiabortion measures at issue in Jane Medical and other cases before the courts demonstrate that these measures are about denying women equal independence, not protecting their health, argues Michele Goodwin for Take Care.

JUSTICE & SAFETY

President Trump’s withholding of military aid from Ukraine jeopardized stability in the region and US national security, contends David Ignatius for The Washington Post.

REGULATION

The NLRB’s recent decision prohibiting Boeing workers from organizing into a Union may harm President Trump’s reelection prospects as “the workers’ friend,” argues Andrew Strom for On Labor.

The Department of Labor issued a rule extending overtime eligibility to 1.3 million workers, effective January of 2020 (The Hill).

• The rule has been criticized for not protecting more workers who routinely work more than forty-hours a week (NPR).

Escalating tensions with California, EPA Administrator Wheeler threatened to revoke millions of dollars in federal highway money if the state fails to clear the backlog of air pollution control plans (NPR).

CHECKS & BALANCES

The Senate Committee voted to advance President Trump’s Secretary of Labor nominee, Eugene Scalia (The Hill).

The White House is constructing a plan to permit the whistleblower to testify before Congress about the complaint against President Trump (NYT).

RULE OF LAW

President Trump has increasingly been acting upon his own judgments, demonstrating his interest in using presidential powers to advance his own agenda, argues Peter Nicholas for The Atlantic.

REMOVAL FROM OFFICE

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi officially announced an impeachment inquiry against President Trump in light of the Ukraine scandal and whistleblower complaint (WaPo; WSJ; POLITICO).

• Lawfare provides a timeline of the Trump-Ukraine scandal here.
• The New York Times explains the impeachment process.
• Congress needs to focus its impeachment inquiry specifically on matters of unacceptable presidential conduct provable by available evidence, discusses Susan Hennessey, Quinta Jurecic, and Benjamin Wittes for Lawfare.