Jacqueline Sahlberg, Rachel Chung  //  9/26/17  //  Daily Update

The Supreme Court cancelled oral arguments in the revised travel ban case and asked parties to brief whether the new ban, issued over the weekend, renders the case moot. Senate Republicans have released the Succeed Act, the replacement for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The Trump administration says that the US has not declared war. North Korea’s foreign minister alleged that the US declared war in a tweet and said that North Korea has the right to shoot down US warplanes. At least six White House officials used private email accounts to discuss Trump Administration matters.

IMMIGRATION

The government and courts have shown that the justifications for the expired travel ban were easily discredited, writes Leah Litman for Take Care.

The Supreme Court cancelled oral arguments in the revised travel ban case and asked parties to brief whether the new ban, issued over the weekend, renders the case moot (WSJ; Politico; The Hill).

• The Supreme Court’s order is available here.
• Lawfare outlines the details of Trump’s proclamation.
• Reuters discusses why the new travel ban order could be more difficult to challenge in court.
• The proclamation can withstand judicial scrutiny, argues Josh Blackman at Lawfare.
• The new travel ban is subject to many of the same legal challenges as the prior order, writes Ilya Somin at The Washington Post.
• The proclamation undermines the Immigration and Nationality Act, argues Peter Margulies at Lawfare.
• The countries targeted in the new travel ban “don’t have very much terrorism” (WaPo).
• It is too early to decide what the new travel ban says about Trump’s relationship with the judiciary, writes Joshua Geltzer at Just Security.

Senate Republicans have released the Succeed Act, the replacement for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) (Politico).

DEMOCRACY

Trump says compelled speech is unconstitutional for bakers, but OK for NFL players. On Take Care, Michael Dorf analyzes whether the arguments can be reconciled.

JUSTICE & SAFETY

The Trump administration says that the US has not declared war. North Korea’s foreign minister alleged that the US declared war in a tweet and said that North Korea has the right to shoot down US warplanes (WSJ; WaPo).

Trump is preparing to eliminate requirements for conducting drone strikes, and the changes are legally and operationally significant, argues Monica Hakimi at Just Security.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

Only appointed officials—not elected ones—are subject to the Emoluments Clause, argue Josh Blackman and Seth Barrett Tillman at Volokh Conspiracy.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price’s government-funded travel on charter flights was not approved by the White House (Politico).

Steve Bannon made plans to plant a mole inside Facebook to infiltrate the company’s hiring process before the 2016 election (Buzzfeed).

REGULATION

The amended Graham-Cassidy bill is now filled with bribes and makes it easier for states to avoid applying the ACA’s insurance regulations, contends Nick Bagley at Take Care.

• Senator Susan Collins of Maine will oppose the bill, leaving it short of the votes needed for passage (NYT; WaPo).
• The bill’s CBO score is here.

Title IX’s preponderance of the evidence standard and affirmative consent requirement, contained in guidance rescinded by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, must be defended, argues Sherry F. Colb at Verdict.

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE

At least six White House officials used private email accounts to discuss Trump Administration matters (NYT).

• The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is looking into Jared Kushner’s use of a private email account to communicate with Trump Administration officials (The Hill; WaPo).
• White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Kushner’s use of personal email was “very limited” (Politico).
• Ivanka Trump also used a personal account to contact the Small Business Administration, after she began attending high-level administration meetings (The Hill).

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is barred from speaking publicly about his ongoing investigation, meaning fast-paced news reports do not give a full perspective of each development, argues Cristian Farias at New York Magazine.

More than 3000 Russian-bought ads, which Facebook is preparing to give to Congress, sought to fuel racial and religious divides before the election (WaPo; The Hill).

After the election, President Obama implored Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg to take the threat of fake news seriously (WaPo).