6/20/17  //  Daily Update

The Supreme Court rejected a Bivens suit brought by plaintiffs alleging unconstitutional detention and abuse in the wake of 9/11. The U.S. military shot down a Syrian plane for the first time since the start of the conflict in that country. Energy Secretary Rick Perry stated on Monday that carbon dioxide emissions are not the “primary control knob” behind climate change. And criticism is building of the handling of public business behind closed doors during the Trump Administration -- including the health care bill being drafted in secret by the Sea

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.

6/16/17  //  Daily Update

The latest episode of Versus Trump discusses a suit challenging Trump's financial disclosure form. President Trump modified the "effective date" provisions of the revised travel ban. Analysis continues of the Emoluments Clause suits filed against Trump this week. Special counsel Robert Mueller has requested interviews with high-ranking intelligence officials, suggesting that he will investigate whether President Trump obstructed justice. DHS Secretary John Kelly rescinded President Obama's DAPA program.

6/15/17  //  Daily Update

Four people were shot at a baseball practice for Congressional Republicans. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s list of interview subjects indicates that he is investigating the President for obstruction of justice. The Senate Intelligence Committee will investigate the circumstances of former FBI Director Jim Comey’s firing. Members of President Trump’s transition team joined firms lobbying for the privatization of the US air-traffic-control system weeks before Trump announced his support for privatization. And the Federal Reserve Bank raised the benchmark interest rate.

6/14/17  //  Daily Update

196 Members of Congress have filed suit against President Trump for violating the Foreign Emoluments Clause. Attorney General Jeff Sessions testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee concerning Russian interference, his own prior testimony, and the firing of FBI Director James Comey. President Trump announced his first set of U.S Attorney nominations. The Senate voted against blocking an arms sale to Saudi Arabia. And Congress is considering a bill to roll back the whistleblower protections of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act.

6/13/17  //  Daily Update

The Ninth Circuit upheld an injunction of President Trump’s revised entry ban. Maryland and the District of Columbia filed lawsuits against President Trump alleging violations of the Emoluments Clauses. The Justice Department argued that federal courts cannot review the Administration’s approval of the Keystone XL pipeline. The Trump Administration will recommend limits for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

6/12/17  //  Daily Update

The Supreme Court could decide as as soon as this week whether President Trump’s travel ban should be stopped or implemented. The Government filed a memo in support of its motion to dismiss in the emoluments case Trump v. Crew, arguing that foreign payments to the President's businesses are legal. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has agreed to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, in response to James Comey’s testimony. President Trump has also reportedly said that he is “100 percent” willing to testify about his conversations with Comey.

6/9/17  //  Daily Update

Former F.B.I. Director James Comey testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee that President Trump lied about the reason for Comey’s firing and defamed Comey and the F.B.I. Comey also testified that he was “confused and increasingly concerned” by the “shifting explanations” for his firing, and believed he was fired by President Trump over the growing Russia investigation. Comey also testified that he orchestrated the leak of his notes of meeting with President Trump with the now realized hope of spurring the appointment of a special prosecutor.

6/8/17  //  Daily Update

Texas and a group of other states have filed an amicus brief in support of the revised entry ban. Republican Senator Tom Cotton has introduced legislation to make Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act permanent. President Trump plans to nominate Christopher A. Wray, a former federal prosecutor, as the next FBI director. Today, former FBI Director James Comey will testify before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

6/7/17  //  Daily Update

President Trump's latest tweets about the Muslim Ban have drawn further analysis. A number of Twitter users have invoked to the First Amendment to demand that Trump unblock their accounts. An intelligence contractor has been charged in the first leak case under Trump. The Trump Administration is struggling to fill key positions—most notably FBI director. Former FBI Director James Comey reportedly asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions not to leave him alone in a room with the President. And facing Trump's fury over Russia, Sessions at one point reportedly floated his resignation to the President.

6/6/17  //  Daily Update

Yesterday, President Trump tweeted several times about the revised travel ban. Many experts concluded that these statements undermine critical parts of DOJ's legal position before the Supreme Court. Debate has ensued over whether this was deliberate or inadvertent. The Trump Organization announced plans for a new three-star hotel chain with “patriotic flair,” which will make its debut in Mississippi. Analysis continues of the President's revised contraception rule and decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. It has been reported that President Trump will not invoke executive privilege to try to block former FBI director James Comey’s testimony from testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee this Thursday.

6/5/17  //  Daily Update

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6/5/17  //  Daily Update

Analysis continues of the Trump Administration's request for Supreme Court review of injunctions against its revised travel ban. The Administration's draft contraception coverage rules have leaked, and have drawn heavy criticism. The Office of Government Ethics plans to further investigate waivers issued by the White House to its staffers. Experts have weighed in on Trump's power to block former FBI Director James Comey from testifying before Congress. The President's decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement raises a host of complex legal and political questions, both at home and abroad.

6/2/17  //  Daily Update

In the travel ban cases, DOJ filed emergency stay applications and a petition for certiorari at the Supreme Court late last night. President Trump announced that the U.S. will withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, and a deluge of legal and political analyses followed. News also leaked that the administration is considering broad new exemptions to the requirement that employer-based health insurance provide contraception coverage. And former FBI Director Comey's congressional testimony has been set for next week, which has prompted discussion of whether the President could invoke executive privilege to prevent him from testifying.

6/1/17  //  Daily Update

White House sources say that President Trump is planning to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Accord. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s proposed budget for the Department of Justice says nothing about prosecuting illegal use of force by police officers. Jared Kushner’s company used a federal loan program intended to subsidize low-income housing to build a luxury residential building. Congress is investigating whether Jeff Sessions, who falsely testified before the Senate that he “did not have communications with the Russians,” may have had an additional private meeting with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. And Jim Comey, former Director of the FBI, will testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee as early as next week.