7/26/19  //  Daily Update

DOJ announced that it will resume use of the death penalty in some cases and announced a new drug protocol for lethal injection. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony on Wednesday deepened the Democratic divide over whether to pursue impeachment. The Trump administration announced a $16 billion aid package to help farmers hurt by the president’s trade war with China. The CFPB plans to eliminate a rule that enables homebuyers with high debt to obtain mortgages. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) blocked consent votes on two election security bills, saying Democrats were trying to give themselves a “political benefit." The House Oversight Committee voted to subpoena all White House work communications sent by personal email and cellphone.

7/25/19  //  Daily Update

Special Counsel Robert Mueller testified before the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees. A federal district court granted a preliminary injunction against a new rule requiring asylees to apply for asylum in the first safe country they reach after leaving their country of origin. The Department of Justice opened an antitrust inquiry into tech companies.

7/23/19  //  Daily Update

Special Counsel Mueller will testify before Congress this Wednesday. The President’s efforts to limit asylum protections faced their first legal challenges in federal court. The President and congressional leaders reached a budget agreement on Monday, lifting the debt limit and dramatically raising federal spending levels. Citing two Miss Universe pageants and his “many Puerto Rican friends”, the President claims to be the best thing that ever happened to the unincorporated territory.

7/22/19  //  Daily Update

The House Judiciary Committee wants Hope Hicks to clarify her June 19 testimony, which conflicts with recently unsealed court documents regarding Michael Cohen’s case. The DC Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the DOJ’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit regarding Trump’s alleged violations of the Emoluments Clause. The Third Circuit upheld a nationwide injunction on a Trump Administration rule that would allow employers to exempt out of the ACA requirement to provide insurance that covers birth control. Eugene Scalia, son of the late Justice Scalia, is President Trump’s new pick to head the Department of Labor.

7/19/19  //  Daily Update

Newly unsealed court documents show that Trump communicated repeatedly with Michael Cohen during the election to keep the Stormy Daniels story quiet. The acting Secretary of Homeland Security has testified that the number of family separations at the border has fallen. The Senate has passed a bill making hacking elections a crime.

7/18/19  //  Daily Update

The House of Representatives held Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt for their refusal to turn over documents relating to the Trump Administration’s attempt to add a citizenship question to the census. The House of Representatives passed a third bill attempting to undo the arms deal that President Trump made with Saudi Arabia, which will likely lead to another presidential veto of the bill. The investigation into Michael Cohen’s campaign-finance infractions has been concluded. Multiple lawsuits have now been filed challenging the new asylum regulation that denies asylum to individuals who did not request asylum in the first country they reached after leaving their country of origin.

7/17/19  //  Daily Update

Retired Justice John Paul Stevens has died at the age of 99. A lawsuit has been filed to challenge the administration’s new rules limiting the number of people who will be able to seek asylum in the United States. The House passed a resolution condemning President Trump's racist tweets. Parties agreed in the NY census case to a joint order that permanently blocks the citizenship question. Kellyanne Conway on Monday defied a congressional subpoena from the House Oversight and Reform Committee about her violations of the Hatch Act, prompting House Democrats to threaten to hold her in contempt of Congress.

7/15/19  //  Daily Update

A panel of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals appeared skeptical of the President’s arguments during a hearing over the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena for some of his financial records. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the DOJ has the authority to prioritize states and cities who cooperate with federal immigration laws when issuing COPS grants. The Trump Administration asked the Supreme Court to lift a district court order that enjoined the Administration from diverting military funds to build the border wall. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals blocked a rule promulgated by DHHS that would have allowed employers to deny insurance coverage for birth control because of a religious or moral objection. The House approved a measure that would prevent President Trump from going to war with Iran without first receiving congressional approval.

7/13/19  //  Daily Update

President Trump announced that he would end his effort to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census, instead pursuing citizenship information through other means. The House Judiciary Committee voted to subpoena several witnesses, including Trump adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, as part of its investigation into possible obstruction of justice. Nationwide raids to arrest thousands of undocumented immigrants are scheduled to begin on Sunday after an earlier postponement. The Ninth Circuit ruled that the Trump administration can move forward with its Title X “gag rule” on abortion referrals, denying a stay while the case is appealed.

7/11/19  //  Daily Update

The Fourth Circuit dismissed the Emoluments Clause case brought by Maryland and Washington D.C. against President Trump, holding that the plaintiffs lacked Article III standing. The Second Circuit affirmed a decision holding that President Trump cannot block individuals on Twitter based on their political opinions. A second federal judge denied the Justice Department’s attempt to change the lawyers working on the lawsuit regarding adding a citizenship question to the 2020 Census. A district judge denied the government’s motion to dismiss a challenge to President Trump’s travel ban.

7/3/19  //  Daily Update

The 2020 Census is being printed without a citizenship question. The House has filed a lawsuit against the Department of the Treasury and the IRS to obtain the President’s tax returns. The Trump Administration is sending out notices threatening civil fines on individuals who are disobeying deportation orders by seeking refuge in places like churches. A federal judge blocked an order from AG Barr that said that certain asylum seekers can be detained indefinitely. Three new plaintiffs have joined a lawsuit against the CFPB alleging that it is violating the APA by not issuing certain regulations under the Dodd-Frank Act.

6/28/19  //  Daily Update

The Supreme Court ruled that the Administration’s justification for adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census was pretextual, remanding the case to the Department of Commerce to provide a clearer explanation. The Supreme Court ruled that partisan gerrymandering claims are non-justiciable because they raise political questions that are beyond the reach of the courts. The House passed the 4.6 billion dollar emergency aid bill to address the humanitarian crisis on the southern border. Former Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, informed the House Foreign Affairs Committee that Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, engaged with state leaders without coordinating with the State Department. The White House eliminated earlier versions of its ethics waiver lists, replacing them with a new, undated ethics waiver, which may be retroactive and, therefore, invalid.

6/27/19  //  Daily Update

President Trump stated that he feels little pressure to reach a trade deal with China and that he is prepared to impose further tariffs on Chinese imports. The Supreme Court has cut back Auer deference, although it did not overturn Auer in Kisor v. Willkie.

6/26/19  //  Daily Update

Robert Mueller will testify before two House committees on July 17. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan has ruled that the emoluments clause litigation can move forward without appellate review at this stage. John Sanders has resigned as head of Customs and Border Protection. There have been several rapid developments in litigation challenging the addition of a citizenship question to the census.

6/25/19  //  Daily Update

Citing “longstanding precedent,” the White House instructed Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway to refuse to testify before the House Oversight Committee about potential violations of federal ethics law. Hundreds of migrant children were transferred from a Border Patrol station in Clint, Texas, which was overcrowded and in increasingly bad condition. In a letter, the ACLU notified the Supreme Court about a recent court ruling and a new study about the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 Census. President Trump imposed new sanctions on Iran that focus on the international banking system and other financial systems. The inspector general of the Treasury Department will investigate the decision to delay the printing of Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill. The White House has refused to tell the House Judiciary Committee what happened to a series of interpreter notes from a meeting in January between President Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia.