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.”

9/14/17  //  Daily Update

Coverage and analysis of the Supreme Court’s allowance of parts of the travel ban continues. The ACLU will challenge warrantless searches of phones and laptops at the border. President Trump nominated Trey Trainor, a Texas lawyer and opponent of campaign finance regulation, to the Federal Election Commission. The House has voted to curb federal asset forfeitures, a program Attorney General Jeff Sessions had reinstated. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has endorsed a proposal to eliminate the “blue slip” procedure that would allow Democrats to block President Trump’s circuit court nominees from their home state.

9/13/17  //  Daily Update

Hawaii filed a brief arguing against the Supreme Court’s temporary stay in the travel ban case. The White House suggested that the DOJ should consider prosecuting former FBI director James Comey. Reports indicate that White House lawyers debated whether Jared Kushner should step down following the initiation of special counsel Robert Muller’s investigation.

9/12/17  //  Daily Update

The Supreme Court granted the Trump administration’s emergency request to stay the Ninth Circuit’s travel ban ruling, which would enable about 24,000 refugees with formal assurances from U.S. resettlement agencies to enter the country. Attorneys General from California, Maine, Minnesota and Maryland have filed suit in federal district court for the Northern District of California alleging that President Trump violated the Constitution when the administration ended DACA. A bipartisan group of senators released legislation to block the Trump administration’s proposal to prohibit transgender people from serving in the military. Two advocacy groups have filed briefs arguing that President Trump’s pardon of former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is unconstitutional.

9/11/17  //  Daily Update

The University of California system, led by Janet Napolitano, has sued the Trump Administration regarding its appeal of DACA. The DOJ has filed an amicus brief in support of a Christian baker who refused to make a cake for a same-sex wedding. President Trump tweeted his support for churches seeking FEMA money after Hurricane Harvey.

9/8/17  //  Daily Update

Sixteen Democratic attorneys general have filed suit in Federal District Court in Brooklyn alleging that President Trump has improperly ended DACA. U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos will rescind 2011 Title IX guidance relating to how schools should address sexual assault and harassment. The United States proposed stiffer United Nations sanctions against North Korea. Donald Trump Jr. told Senate Judiciary Committee investigators that he met with a Russian lawyer in June 2016 to determine if she possessed information about Hillary Clinton’s fitness for office.

9/7/17  //  Daily Update

Fifteen states sue the Trump Administration over the announced revocation of DACA. A group of prominent conservatives file an amicus brief in the Supreme Court urging the Court to rule partisan gerrymandering unconstitutional. And commentary on, and opposition to, President Trump's recent judicial nominations continues.

9/6/17  //  Daily Update

The Trump Administration announces an end to DACA—the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration non-enforcement program—and commentary and analysis about what might happen next ensues. Transgender service members sue the Trump Administration to block the order barring military service by transgender individuals. And President Trump continues to nominate reliable conservatives to open positions on the federal bench, which prompts media commentary and a Facebook message from Senator Al Franken about his opposition to one nominee to the Eighth Circuit.

9/5/17  //  Daily Update

President Trump has indicated that he intends to end DACA after a six-month delay, sparking widespread criticism. North Korea conducted another nuclear test over the weekend, drawing a U.S. warning of a “massive military response.” DOJ says there is no evidence that President Obama wiretapped Trump Tower, despite President Trump’s earlier claims. Special Counsel Mueller is in possession of an early draft of a letter written by President Trump and a political aide which gave reasons for firing former FBI Director Comey.

9/1/17  //  Daily Update

Thirteen state AGs have accused EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt of using informal guidance to sidestep required process and delay the Clean Power Plan. Advocacy organizations have sent a letter to the DOJ Criminal Division arguing that President Trump’s pardon of Joe Arpaio exceeds constitutional limits. Special counsel Robert Mueller has teamed up with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in his investigation into Paul Manafort. NBC has reported that Manafort took notes on his phone during the Trump Jr. meeting and wrote the word "donation." The Trump Administration ordered Russia to close three diplomatic facilities.

8/31/17  //  Daily Update

A federal judge blocks Texas’ ban on ‘sanctuary cities.’ The Ninth Circuit calls Coast Guard’s racial profiling of Latino man an egregious Fourth Amendment violation. An amicus filed in Wisconsin gerrymandering case advocates for partisan symmetry standard. Redrawn North Carolina redistricting maps head to judges for approval.

8/30/17  //  Daily Update

Reaction to the President's pardon of former sheriff Joe Arpaio continues. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson notifies Congress that he plans to eliminate or downgrade as many as three dozen State Department special envoy positions. And the Illinois AG sues the City of Chicago over policing practices, because the Trump DOJ has not done so.

8/29/17  //  Daily Update

The Ninth Circuit heard oral argument about which portions of the travel ban the Administration can enforce while the Supreme Court’s ultimate decision in the case is pending. U.S. Immigration and Customs Service (ICE) has requested approval for a plan to begin routinely destroying records related to its detention operations, including those related to sexual assaults, solitary confinement, and deaths in custody. The ACLU and Lambda Legal filed lawsuits arguing that the President’s ban on transgender troops is unconstitutional and discriminatory. President Trump signed an executive order allowing local police departments to receive surplus military equipment, reversing an Obama-era policy barring such transfers. Trump pardons Joe Arpaio, the former Maricopa County sheriff convicted of criminal contempt for defying a court order to stop unconstitutional racial profiling.

8/28/17  //  Daily Update

President Trump issued a memorandum formally implementing his previously announced intent to bar openly transgender individuals from serving in the U.S. military. President Trump pardoned former Maricopa County sheriff, Joe Arpaio, whose aggressive efforts to detain undocumented immigrants led a court to convict him of criminal contempt for ignoring an injunction barring racially discriminatory policing policies.

8/25/17  //  Daily Update

President Trump might pardon former Maricopa County sheriff, Joe Arpaio, who was convicted of criminal contempt of court for defying an injunction prohibiting racially discriminatory policing policies. DOJ's involvement in a challenge to Harvard's affirmative action policy would threaten the very foundation of race conscious admissions programs. The Superior Court of D.C. ruled that DOJ can issue an amended search warrant to Dreamhost, demanding data pertaining to a website used to organize protests against President Trump around Inauguration Day. Secretary of Interior Zinke has recommended major changes to public lands management.