Trump Expands Threaten-the-Lawyers Tactic
President Donald Trump has repeatedly shown how frustrating it is to have courts hit the pause button on the dramatic changes he’s trying to make.
After Chief Justice John Roberts pushed back when Trump focused his ire on judges, Trump’s doubling down on another tactic: intimidate the lawyers.
His has directed the Justice Department to pursue sanctions against “attorneys and law firms who engage in frivolous, unreasonable, and vexatious litigation against the United States.”
And it’s not just the individual lawyers being targeted; Trump also is threatening to have their firms’ security clearances revoked. Read More
The head of a big firm that caved under Trump’s pressure told its employees in a firmwide email yesterday that its agreement—including a pledge to provide $40 million in pro bono legal services to advance Trump administration goals—was necessary to resolve the “unprecedented threat” and “existential crisis.”
Tatyana Monnay reports that other law firms are scrubbing their websites of references to their lawyers’ work on former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Read More
Congress may also enter the fray. House Republicans are eyeing legislation, Suzanne Monyak and Jacqueline Thomsen report, that would limit lower court judges’ authority to block policies nationwide. Read More
See Also:
- Schumer Sees Americans Rising Up If Trump Defies the Courts
- Read what’s coming up on the Hill in BGOV’s Congress Tracker
US Exporters to Trump: Punishing China Would Hurt Us
American industry reps will tell trade officials today that they’re the ones who’ll say ouch if China is punished with giant fees every time one of its cargo carriers pulls into a US port, Skye Witley reports.
“We are extremely concerned that if this proposal goes into effect, U.S. soybeans will be effectively shut out from our global export markets,” the American Soybean Association said in a letter to the US Trade Representative.
The backstory to today’s USTR hearing is bipartisan.
A formal inquiry completed in the final days of the Biden administration concluded that “urgent action” was needed in response to China’s actions that unfairly sunk US-based ship-building competitors.
Trump agreed and proposed several punishing fees — including a levy of as much as $1.5 million to be charged every time a vessel built or owned by China enters a US port.
US growers are worried about being put at a price disadvantage as the extra fees are passed along to customers along with potential additional trucking costs if the big container ships choose to load from fewer locations. Read More
- See Also: Trump Plans Tariff ‘Liberation Day’
It’s X-Date Preview Day
The Bipartisan Policy Center is out this morning with its estimate of the debt-limit X date, and the caveat that “no one—not even the Treasury secretary—can know precisely when” the US will hits borrowing limit.
BPC projects between mid-July and early October as the date range when the debt ceiling will need to be upped or suspended. That timeframe roughly aligns with Republicans’ plans for a broader bill including tax measures, Jack Fitzpatrick reports.
Treasury officials have been using what they call “extraordinary measures” since January to delay a default on federal payments that would risk severe damage to the economy.
The Congressional Budget Office plans to release its estimate on Wednesday.
Read More in this morning’s BGOV Budget Brief.
How Well Do You Know Washington: Autopen Edition
President Donald Trump’s comments about the legitimacy of documents signed via autopen and that he didn’t sign the proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act cast new attention on an old signature-producing device. So this week’s quiz looks at its history.
- Who was the first president to sign legislation with an autopen?
- How did Americans first get to see what the White House autopen looked like?
Scroll down for the answers.
Next Footfall on Immigration
The Trump administration’s about to revoke temporary legal status and work permits from asylum-seekers who are in the US under a humanitarian program.
The Biden-era program allowed citizens of Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Venezuela to apply from abroad. It was part of an effort to curb illegal immigration by creating a legal route for people trying to escape liefe-threatening violence and poverty. Ending it will affect
potentially more than half a million migrants. Read More
BGOV Q&A with DHS’s Man on the Hill
Ellen M. Gilmer sat down with the Department of Homeland Security’s top legislative affairs official, Assistant Secretary Bradley Hayes, to discuss his job as the envoy between the department and Congress.
Hayes said his short-term focus is on pending nominations to fill high-level vacancies including for Customs and Border Protection. Border security language in the still-to-come budget reconciliation process is another priority. Read More
Did You Ace the Quiz?
The correct answer to Autopen Question No. 1 is Barack Obama, who was in Europe in 2011 when he needed to sign an extension of the PATRIOT Act. The first president to use one for general autographs rather than official documents was Harry Truman.
Autopen Question No. 2: In1968, Lyndon B. Johnson allowed the presidential autopen to be photographed by the supermarket tabloid National Enquirer for an article headlined, “The Robot That Sits in for the President. Read More
Before You Go
Mia Love, first Black Republican congresswoman, has died of brain cancer. She was 49.
A federal appeals court today will consider former Rep. George Santos’s claim that TV Host Jimmy Kimmel owes him for deceptively luring Santos to film Cameo videos and then putting them on the air. The judge who tossed the case said Kimmel’s use of the videos was a commentary on Santos’ willingness to say absurd things for money. Read More
Reservists, temporary full-time employees, local hires, and on-call response employees who make up the bulk of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s workforce will need the explicit approval of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem if they’re going to keep their jobs. Read More
The head of the Federal Communications Commission is threatening to block some media mergers unless the companies involved are serious about ending their diversity efforts. Read More
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