, Caroline Cox  //  9/27/17  //  Daily Update

President Trump’s newly announced proclamation banning entry of individuals from specific countries deemed to “pose a security or safety threat” continues to receive criticism and coverage. The Fifth Circuit has allowed Texas to enforce parts of a state law seeking to punish sanctuary cities. A DOJ attorney told the Second Circuit that Title VII does not protect gay workers from discrimination, contradicting the EEOC’s brief in the case. Congressional democrats will hear testimony from Obama-era Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson regarding election cyber security. A coalition of constitutional lawyers, scholars, and public interests groups called on Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch to cancel his planned speech at the Trump International Hotel. Robert Mueller will begin interviewing current and former White House officials this week.

IMMIGRATION

President Trump’s newly announced proclamation banning entry of individuals from specific countries deemed to “pose a security or safety threat” continues to receive criticism and coverage (NYT).

• Lawfare explores how the travel ban is unlikely to have any practical effect on North Koreans traveling to the United States.
• Lawfare also provides an in-depth look at the rationale for the travel ban.

The White House announced that it will cap the number of refugees admitted to the United States in the next fiscal year to 45,000 (Politico).

President Trump’s border wall proposal took a further step toward fruition with the beginning of prototype construction in California (WSJ).

The Fifth Circuit has allowed Texas to enforce parts of a state law seeking to punish sanctuary cities (WSJ).

California lawmakers passed a “sanctuary state” bill, which may have significant ramifications for the state should the Governor Brown sign it (LA Times).

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers are holding pregnant immigrants against federal policy, argues Victoria Lopez at the ACLU.

CIVIL RIGHTS

Recent statements from the Pentagon’s top general show clear disagreement with President Trump’s military transgender ban (WaPo).

A DOJ attorney told the Second Circuit that Title VII does not protect gay workers from discrimination, contradicting the EEOC’s brief in the case (Buzzfeed).

DEMOCRACY

Congressional democrats will hear testimony from Obama-era Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson regarding election cyber security (The Hill).

Attorney General Sessions publicly criticized American universities for creating “echo chamber[s] of political correctness and homogenous thought” (WaPo).

A recent study shows that confusion over Wisconsin voter ID laws kept thousands of eligible voters from the polls last November (NYT, WaPo).

JUSTICE & SAFETY

President Trump’s response to the aftermath of the hurricane in Puerto Rico seems to be taking cues from Hillary Clinton (WaPo).

The House Foreign Affairs Committee closely scrutinized the State Department’s elimination the office of cybersecurity coordinator (The Hill).

Targeted killing policies under President Obama have allowed President Trump to expand such targeted killings outside traditional warzones, argues Letta Tayler at Just Security.

President Trump continues to harshly criticize North Korea and its nuclear program (WSJ, Politico).

• The Wall Street Journal explains Secretary Tillerson’s efforts to have China press North Korea on the nuclear threats.
• Politico reports that the Treasury Department has issued sanctions against North Korean banks.
• Ars Technica considers whether American ballistic defenses could succeed against North Korean missiles.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST                  

The practices of presidents during the early republic, the first Congress, and Alexander Hamilton demonstrate an understanding that the president was not subject to the Foreign Emoluments Clause, argue Josh Blackman and Seth Barrett Tillman at the Washington Post.

REGULATION

The Senate confirmed President Trump’s second pick to the National Labor Relations Board, shifting the balance of power from Democrats to Republicans (The Hill).

Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke’s comments at a recent meeting of the American Petroleum Institute should concern liberals and conservatives alike, argues Sean Hecht at Legal Planet.

The Federal Communications Commission declared today that there is “effective communication” in the United States mobile wireless market, which could influence the merger between T-Mobile USA and Sprint (Ars Technica).

SEC Chairman Jim Clayton testified that it will take “substantial time” to determine the full extent of the 2016 cybersecurity breach (The Hill).

The EPA has signed a contract for nearly $25,000 to build a soundproof communications booth for the office of EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt (NYT).

The Department of Commerce has decided to impose tariffs of as much as 219 percent on Canadian jetliners after ruling in favor of a complaint by Boeing (WaPo).

The Editorial Board of the Wall Street Journal argues that it is important for the Treasury to clarify the process through which a bank may challenge its status as “systemically important” (WSJ).

CHECKS & BALANCES

A coalition of constitutional lawyers, scholars, and public interests groups called on Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch to cancel his planned speech at the Trump International Hotel (The Hill).

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said that the DOJ and FBI’s refusal to permit two FBI agents to testify before the committee was invalid and violated the Constitution (The Hill).

FEDERALISM

A coalition of groups including the ACLU of Massachusetts called on the Boston Police Department to limit cooperation with the Federal Government except when absolutely necessary to investigate and prosecute crime (ACLU).

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE                                                     

Robert Mueller will begin interviewing current and former White House officials this week (WSJ).

Robert Mueller does not have the authority to produce a public report as part of the investigation into Russian interference with U.S. elections, therefore Congress should create an independent, bipartisan commission to do so, writes Asha Rangappa at The Hill.

President Trump again criticized Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ handling of the Russia investigation (WSJ).

Roger Stone, a former campaign advisor to President Trump, testified before the House Intelligence Committee (NYT, The Hill).

• An annotated version of Stone’s testimony is available here.
• Stone’s statement was carefully worded to exclude factual assertions that he may be unable to deny, writes Renato Mariotti.
• Stone said that Paul Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, expects to be indicted by federal prosecutors working for Robert Mueller.

Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on “Special Counsels and the Separation of Powers,” focusing on two pending bills designed to protect Special Counsels from termination without good cause (Just Security).

• The video recording of the hearing is available here.
• The New York Times reports that the path forward was unclear for both bills.
• Both Republican and Democratic senators said they would remain vigilant to protect the Special Counsel.

Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein says that the Committee plans to subpoena documents from Paul Manafort (WaPo).          

• Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and ranking member Dianne Feinstein asked CIA Director Mike Pompeo to turn over information related to Russian interference.

Potential Congressional responses to Russian election interference via Facebook may not be successful given current Supreme Court campaign finance doctrine, writes Richard Hasen (Politico).

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee called for the White House to disclose information related to White House employees’ use of private email (Politico).

• Jared Kushner’s use of private email is different than Hillary Clinton’s, argues Aaron Blake (WaPo).
• Kushner’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, was tricked into discussing Kushner’s private emails with a prankster (WaPo).

Reversing itself, the Department of Homeland Security told Wisconsin Officials that the Russian government had not tried to hack the state’s voter registration system last year (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).

Russian-language Twitter bots tried to boost claims of voter fraud before Germany’s national elections on September 24th (Mashable).