Federal Government

Judge denies emergency order to force government payment of health insurer subsidies

A federal judge in San Francisco has refused to issue an emergency order requiring the Trump administration to continue paying insurer subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.

Oct 25, 2017 4:57 PM CDT

Former Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s pardon doesn’t require vacating his conviction, judge rules

A federal judge in Arizona has ruled that former Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s pardon has spared him from any punishment, but it doesn’t justify vacating his conviction for criminal contempt. U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton ruled (PDF) Thursday that a pardon doesn’t revise the historical facts of a case, report the…

Oct 20, 2017 8:45 AM CDT

Sessions says Mueller hasn’t interviewed him, declines to testify on his conversations with Trump

Attorney General Jeff Sessions declined to discuss his conversations with President Donald Trump about the May firing of FBI director James Comey or the investigation of Russian influence during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday,

Oct 18, 2017 1:22 PM CDT

Colin Kaepernick’s grievance alleges collusion; does Trump threat give players free-speech claim?

Updated: Colin Kaepernick’s grievance against the National Football League claims all 32 teams colluded to keep him out of the league in response to pressure by President Donald Trump. Lawyer Mark Geragos filed the grievance under the union’s collective bargaining agreement with the league, report the New York Times, the…

Oct 18, 2017 7:45 AM CDT

Trump will refuse to certify Iran nuclear-deal compliance, but won’t scrap pact

Updated: President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he will refuse to certify Iran’s compliance with the international nuclear deal reached in 2015, even as he seeks to keep the agreement in place, for now. By refusing to certify compliance, the issue goes to Congress, report the New York Times…

Oct 13, 2017 9:10 AM CDT

Trump to end insurers’ subsidies after signing order relaxing health insurance requirements for some

Updated: President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order requiring federal agencies to consider rules that expand the ability of small businesses and groups to band together to offer health care coverage that is not subject to the requirements of the Affordable Care Act.

Oct 13, 2017 8:01 AM CDT

Will ‘sore-loser litigiousness’ against Trump produce bad precedent?

President Donald Trump is disrupting political norms, but courts should not respond in kind by disrupting judicial norms, according to South Texas law professor Josh Blackman. In an essay published at the National Review, Blackman argues that “sore-loser litigiousness” against Trump’s policies will set “lasting and dangerous precedents.” Judges who…

Oct 12, 2017 9:33 AM CDT

Could Trump pull NBC’s broadcast license? The First Amendment isn’t his only problem

President Donald Trump on Wednesday tweeted his displeasure with an NBC News report that said he wanted a nearly tenfold increase in the country’s nuclear warhead stockpile.

Oct 12, 2017 8:00 AM CDT

Trump nominates Kirstjen Nielsen to lead the Department of Homeland Security

Kirstjen Nielsen, the deputy to current White House chief of staff John Kelly, was nominated Wednesday by President Donald Trump to lead the Department of Homeland Security. Nielsen was tapped to fill the position left vacant by Kelly in July when he replaced Reince Priebus as chief of staff. Politico,…

Oct 11, 2017 5:37 PM CDT

EPA chief announces rule to repeal Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan

Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt announced Monday that he will repeal the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan through a proposed rule that will be published in the Federal Register. Pruitt told coal miners that “the war on coal is over” and he will begin efforts to withdraw the Clean…

Oct 10, 2017 12:18 PM CDT

More employers can exclude birth control coverage under ACA based on moral or religious grounds

More employers can exempt themselves from providing contraceptive coverage under the Affordable Care Act as a result of new regulations issued on Friday that accommodate moral as well as religious objections.

Oct 6, 2017 11:59 AM CDT

DA returns campaign contribution from Trump lawyer after reporters ask about dropped condo probe

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. has returned a $32,000 campaign contribution made by Donald Trump’s personal lawyer after journalists asked about the prosecutor’s decision to drop a probe into sales of units at the Trump SoHo condominium-hotel. Vance, a Democrat, tells the New York Times there was no connection…

Oct 5, 2017 8:38 AM CDT

Federal judge upholds former Sheriff Arpaio’s pardon and dismisses contempt case

A federal judge in Arizona has dismissed the guilty verdict in the contempt case against former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio while reserving judgment on whether all former rulings in the case should be vacated.

Oct 4, 2017 3:01 PM CDT

Lawyer on Mueller’s team is reportedly researching pre-emptive pardons

A lawyer working for special counsel Robert Mueller has reportedly been researching whether President Donald Trump could issue pre-emptive pardons to protect people in the probe of Russian influence in the U.S. election. Michael Dreeben is “a bookish career government lawyer with more than 100 Supreme Court appearances under his…

Oct 4, 2017 10:12 AM CDT

What Trump can--and cannot--do to clamp down on the press

What damage might Donald Trump do to the press, and what legal options do journalists have available to defend their speech? And how might the administration fight the leaks to the media that appear daily?

Oct 1, 2017 1:20 AM CDT