6/1/18  //  Daily Update

The Human Rights Campaign has called for an investigation into the death of Roxsana Hernandez, a transgender woman who died while in ICE custody. A lawsuit filed by 21 organizations and two citizen plaintiffs challenges the constitutionality of a citizenship question the Trump administration has added to the 2020 census. DHHS is investigating requirements in California and Hawaii that obligate anti-abortion “crisis pregnancy centers” to inform women about state subsidized family planning services. The administration is moving forward with metal tariffs imported from close allies in the EU, Mexico, and Canada. New Jersey became the second state after Massachusetts to enact an individual health insurance mandate.

5/31/18  //  Daily Update

In March 2017, President Trump pressured Attorney General Jeff Sessions to rescind his recusal from the Russia investigation. A new report suggests that Trump administration policies contribute to the risk of sexual abuse of LGBT ICE detainees—a risk 97 times greater than that faced by non-LGBT detainees. The denial of cert in Planned Parenthood v. Jegley leaves intact a decision at odds with governing precedent and will likely lead to uncertainty for abortion providers. Deposition transcripts reveal that the President's criticism of the NFL had a significant influence on the league’s decision to change its policy on standing for the national anthem. President Trump reportedly bragged at a closed-door fundraiser about a classified confrontation between U.S. troops and Russian mercenaries in Syria.

5/25/18  //  Daily Update

President Trump cancelled his June 12 meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The FBI is working to halt a “massive, sophisticated” Russian hacking network. Civil rights groups issued searing criticism of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s claim that the law permits schools to report undocumented students to immigration enforcement. The U.S. Court of Military Commission Review froze the appeal in the 9/11 case, United States v. Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, et al., because it currently lacks a quorum. President Trump signed into law rollbacks of some Dodd-Frank regulations. The DOJ is opening a criminal investigation into bitcoin trading and potential price manipulation. Former President Obama called for stricter regulation of technology firms’ use of user data.

4/23/18  //  Daily Update

The Democratic National Committee sued the Russian government, Russian government entities, the Trump campaign, Wikileaks, and Trump campaign officials alleging a conspiracy to hack DNC servers and release information during the 2016 election. Attorney General Jeff Sessions told White House Counsel Don McGahn that he would consider resigning if President Trump fired Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.The Trump administration will pivot its teen pregnancy prevention funding efforts toward abstinence-based programs and away from comprehensive sexual education. The CIA’s campaign for controversial deputy director Gina Haspel to be confirmed as its director is atypically public and political. The future of the Iran nuclear deal will be central to meetings between French President Emmanuel Macron and President Trump next week.

3/1/18  //  Daily Update

The Trump Administration submitted a brief requesting the Supreme Court deny a request to review a second case on the Administration’s travel ban. President Trump lambasted Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Twitter, criticizing Sessions’s statement that the DOJ Inspector General would investigate alleged surveillance abuses. The Supreme Court heard a case today challenging the constitutionality of laws restricting political clothing at polling places. Special Counsel Robert Mueller is reportedly investigating whether Jared Kushner pursued his business and family’s interests under the pretext of serving U.S. foreign policy. Washington state passed a net neutrality law that applies to all ISPs in the state.

1/9/18  //  Daily Update

The Supreme Court has indicated it will consider the President’s third immigration order at its conference on January 19th. President Trump’s threat of litigation is another blow to democratic norms. A Congressional Review Act resolution to reverse the FCC’s net neutrality repeal garnered the critical 30th co-sponsor needed to force a vote on the measure. Commentators on the right and left have reacted to questions about the President’s mental fitness. Reports suggest that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is weighing interviewing President Donald Trump, while the President’s team is reportedly seeking to avoid an interview altogether.

9/15/17  //  Daily Update

President Trump and Congressional Democrats reached an agreement in principal to protect DACA recipients from deportation and to give them and others a path to citizenship in the United States, prompting vigorous criticism from right-wing Republicans. Senator Bernie Sanders introduced a bill, which President Trump described as a “curse on the U.S. and its people,” that would allow all Americans to access Medicare. Reports have surfaced that President Trump berated Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III during an oval-office meeting after Sessions’s recusal from the investigation into Russian meddling into the US Presidential election. Meanwhile, President Trump reminded reporters that when Nazis marched in Charlottesville last month, leading to many injuries and one death, “you have some pretty bad dudes on the other side also.”

6/26/17  //  Daily Update

There is continued anticipation of the Supreme Court’s decision on President Trump’s revised travel ban. Senate Republicans have joined their House counterparts in proposing steep cuts to Medicaid, part of the effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act. A report reveals that President Obama authorized a covert hacking operation against key Russian networks in the last days of his presidency. And President Trump appeared to acknowledge on Friday that his earlier tweet hinting of taped conversations with James Comey was intended to influence his testimony before Congress.

6/19/17  //  Daily Update

President Trump announced a new policy toward Cuba Friday that leaves in place many Obama-era changes but prohibits any commercial dealings with the Cuban military, and somewhat limits the freedom of U.S. citizens to travel to the island. The President appeared to publicly acknowledge he is under investigation in a Friday Twitter rant directed against Acting Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Meanwhile, rumors have surfaced that President Trump may attempt to fire special counsel Robert Mueller.

5/26/17  //  Daily Update

The en banc Fourth Circuit largely upheld a nationwide injunction against the revised travel ban. The latest episode of Versus Trump covers transgender rights and a challenge to Trump's 2-for-1 executive order. Democrats have launched new efforts to protect the right to vote. President Trump met with NATO allies amid tensions and uncertainty. The Trump Organization has adopted a plan for foreign payments at hotels that fails to stop Foreign Emolument Clause violations. And it has been reported that the FBI is now investigating Jared Kushner's connections to Russia.

4/21/17  //  Daily Update

Take Care has launched a new podcast: "Versus Trump." Amicus briefs are flooding into cases challenging the revised travel ban. The March for Science is this Saturday. The Trump Administration has continued to bend and break ethics rules. The Treasury Secretary has said tax reform plans will be released "very soon." President Trump appears to have returned his focus to passing a healthcare law. Trump's environmental policies have been besieged in court. Questions about Russian hacking and influence persist.

4/21/17  //  Daily Update

Take Care has launched a new podcast: "Versus Trump." Amicus briefs are flooding into cases challenging the revised travel ban. The March for Science is this Saturday. The Trump Administration has continued to bend and break ethics rules. The Treasury Secretary has said tax reform plans will be released "very soon." President Trump appears to have returned his focus to passing a healthcare law. Trump's environmental policies have been besieged in court. Questions about Russian hacking and influence persist.

4/21/17  //  Daily Update

Take Care has launched a new podcast: "Versus Trump." Amicus briefs are flooding into cases challenging the revised travel ban. The March for Science is this Saturday. The Trump Administration has continued to bend and break ethics rules. The Treasury Secretary has said tax reform plans will be released "very soon." President Trump appears to have returned his focus to passing a healthcare law. Trump's environmental policies have been besieged in court. Questions about Russian hacking and influence persist.

4/18/17  //  Daily Update

Two new plaintiffs have joined CREW's emoluments clause litigation against President Trump in the Southern District of New York. The White House is defending its refusal to release visitor logs. Tensions with North Korea are increasing rapidly. President Trump's nomination of Neomi Rao to head OIRA has drawn criticism. So has DOJ's brief attacking the constitutionality of the CFPB. Debates are underway within the White House over whether to remain in the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

4/6/17  //  Daily Update

Improper communications have been sent to Fourth Circuit judges regarding the revised entry ban. The Seventh Circuit's holding that Title VII forbids sexual orientation discrimination raises questions about the Trump Administration's position. A judge has denied DOJ's request to delay a hearing on the proposed consent degree regarding police practices in Baltimore. Trump's nominee to run FDA faced tough questions in his Senate hearing. President Trump has accused former National Security Advisor Susan Rice of committing a crime by seeking to unmask the identifies of Trump associates whose communications were intercepted incidentally by U.S. intelligence agencies.