7/14/17  //  Daily Update

The latest version of the Senate Republican health care bill has been released, along with numerous analyses of it. Numerous analyses of the relationship between the Donald Trump Jr. meeting and campaign finance laws have been published. Hawaii and other travel ban challengers have filed a brief arguing that the Administration is denying entry to foreign nationals and refugees who are legally eligible to enter the United States. DOJ released a heavily redacted version of Attorney General Jeff Session’s security clearance form.

7/13/17  //  Daily Update

The State Department announced that the United States has hit its cap of 50,000 refugee admissions for the fiscal year. The Pence-Kobach "election integrity" commission has reportedly halted its request for sensitive voter information after multiple legal challenges. President Trump reportedly failed to officially resign from at least four of his prior businesses. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Christopher Wray’s nomination for FBI Director. Democratic donors and campaign staff have sued the Trump Campaign for conspiring in the release of hacked Democratic emails. A Member of Congress has filed the first articles of impeachment against President Trump.

7/12/17  //  Daily Update

Donald Trump Jr. has released an email chain responding to an offer of Russian documents that “would incriminate Hillary” Clinton, prompting a wave of legal analysis as to the implications of his actions. The White House Panel on Voter Fraud has been hit with several lawsuits accusing it of violating federal privacy laws and operating in secrecy. Vice President Pence continues advocating for his prosecutorial policies. Questions about conflicts of interest plague President Trump’s nominee for FBI Director, Christopher Wray, and the upcoming nomination of a new Director of the Office of Government Ethics.

7/11/17  //  Daily Update

The Kobach "election integrity" commission remains under siege. Christopher Wray, President Trump's nominee for Director of the FBI, will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee this week. The CFPB issued a final rule that prohibits class action waivers in consumer arbitration agreements. President Trump will nominate Randal Quarles, an investment-fund manager and former Treasury official, to the Federal Reserve. Analysis continues of revelations that, during the campaign, Donald Trump, Jr. met with a lawyer linked to Russia who promised to provide negative information about Hillary Clinton.

7/10/17  //  Daily Update

The Ninth Circuit weighed in on Hawaii’s most recent challenge to President Trump’s revised travel ban. Hawaii then filed a new motion before Judge Watson. Criticism continues of the Pence-Kobach “Election Integrity” commission. EPA has asked the D.C. Circuit to stay its ruling requiring the agency to enforce an Obama-era rule on methane emissions. It has been reported that, during the campaign, Donald Trump, Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort met with a lawyer linked to the Russian government who promised to provide negative information on Hillary Clinton.

7/7/17  //  Daily Update

Judge Watson has rejected Hawaii's request to clarify the scope of the preliminary injunction against President Trump's revised travel ban. A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit ruled that undocumented children detained by federal authorities are entitled to hearings to determine whether they should remain confined. Walter Shaub, director of the independent Office of Government Ethics, announced that he will resign before his term is scheduled to end. Eighteen states and D.C. have challenged Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ delay of regulations targeting predatory for-profit schools.

7/6/17  //  Daily Update

DOJ defended its guidelines for implementing the revised travel ban. More than 40 states have refused to comply with the Pence-Kobach Commission’s request for state voter data; the request may violate several federal laws. The D.C. Circuit rejected the EPA’s attempt to stay an Obama-era final rule on methane and greenhouse gas emissions.

6/30/17  //  Daily Update

The State Department implemented President Trump's revised travel ban and issued guidance on how it interprets the Supreme Court's recent decision blocking part of the ban. Hawaii filed an emergency motion seeking to clarify the scope of the injunction against the revised travel ban. The controversial Pence-Kobach commission has requested state voter data; several states already have refused this request. The House Appropriations Committee has voted to sunset the AUMF. House Democrats have asked the DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General to investigate the extent of Attorney General Jeff Session’s involvement in the dismissal of former FBY Director James Comey.

6/29/17  //  Daily Update

The Supreme Court's travel ban decision has resulted in confusion. Some members of Congress have expressed concern over American escalation in Syria without legislative authorization. President Trump’s former campaign chairman belatedly registered as an agent of a foreign country yesterday. President Trump has issued a statement of administration policy supporting Kate’s Law.

6/28/17  //  Daily Update

Commentary and analysis about the Supreme Court's decision to modify the stay of the travel ban continues. In particular, commentators debate whether the decision was a good result for the Trump Administration, and they wonder how the limits articulated by the Supreme Court will be enforced. And the end of the Supreme Court's term also gave rise to several other decisions that have generated commentary, especially Hernandez v. Mesa and Pavan v. Smith.

6/27/17  //  Daily Update

A unanimous Supreme Court agreed to take up the challenge to President Trump’s travel ban, while allowing portions of the ban to go into effect. The Supreme Court also ruled that excluding churches from secular state funding programs violates the First Amendment. And the Court accepted a case addressing the tensions between religious freedom and antidiscrimination laws. Jared Kushner has hired another criminal defense attorney to represent him in connection with Robert Mueller's investigation and other congressional inquiries.

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.

6/23/17  //  Daily Update

The Senate released its draft health care bill, which includes significant Medicaid cuts. The Environmental Protection Agency has declined to renew the terms of 38 members of its Board of Scientific Counselors (Science). In a series of tweets, President Trump stated that he never recorded his conversations with former FBI director James Comey.

6/22/17  //  Daily Update

The Government filed a brief in the Supreme Court today in Trump v. Hawaii, one of several challenges to the President's executive order banning people from six Muslim-majority countries from entering the US. Democrat Jon Ossoff lost by four percent of the vote to Republican Karen Handel in yesterday's special election for Georgia's Sixth Congressional District. The ACLU filed a lawsuit against two psychologists who helped develop torture methods for the CIA. And Minnesota officials released the full dashboard camera video of the shooting of Philando Castile, a black motorist shot by Officer Jeronimo Yanez last year during a traffic stop. Yanez was acquitted on criminal charges last week.

6/21/17  //  Daily Update

The New York Times reported that former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn was present during highly sensitive briefings despite concerns among career CIA staff that he was at risk of blackmail over his contacts with the Russians. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a new crime-fighting partnership between the Department of Justice and a dozen cities across the country. Meanwhile, Sessions has hired personal counsel to advise him during the Government's investigation into Russian interference with the presidential election last year. And the Trump administration has issued disputed cost-sharing payments to health insurers for the month of July, eliminating for at least a month the prospect of an imminent collapse of the Affordable Care Act's insurance marketplaces.