MORNING MESSAGE
Trump Stands Up for Bad Bankers
The
best way to spot a con artist is by paying attention to what you don’t see, as
well as to what you see. Donald Trump says he represents working people, but he
has already moved aggressively to tilt the scales in favor of Wall Street’s
criminal elite. As Trump moved to rob Americans of some basic financial
protections, his choice of companions only added insult to injury.
One of Trump’s cabinet nominees is on the ropes. Betsy
DeVos has raised bipartisan concerns and is now only one vote away from losing
the nomination in the next few days. Act now to Dump DeVos!
RULING EXPECTED TODAY ON TRAVEL BAN RESTRAINING ORDER
Ninth
Circuit court could lift restraining order today. Politico: “A three-judge
9th Circuit panel is expected to rule as soon as Monday evening on the Justice
Department’s stay request … The states [of Washington and Minnesota] note that
temporary restraining orders are not typically considered appealable and that
parties are usually supposed to wait until a more durable court order known as a
preliminary injunction is entered or turned down by the district court. Many
legal experts say the 9th Circuit panel could seize on that argument and its own
court’s prior precedents to turn down the stay request without wading into
thorny legal questions…”
SCOTUS
next? Bloomberg: “…the U.S. Justice Department has until 3 p.m. Monday to
make its final argument. A decision could come anytime after that and the losing
side may make a quick run to the Supreme Court … [If SCOTUS turns down the stay
request, t]hat would leave the merits of the arguments to be debated in a
Seattle courtroom, with the case and perhaps others making their way to the top
court for review in months or even years — especially if appeals courts issue
conflicting rulings on whether it’s legal.”
States
warn of “chaos” if ban re-imposed. AP: “In briefs filed early Monday morning
with the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Washington state
and Minnesota said Trump’s travel ban harmed residents, businesses and
universities and was unconstitutional.”
The
Atlantic’s Garrett Epps tries to game out the Supreme Court: “Assuming that
the order does discriminate by religion, how serious a violation of Equal
Protection would that be? Remarkably enough, that is still an open question
before the courts. Most religion cases are tried under the First Amendment … The
Supreme Court has never addressed the [Equal Protection] kind of religious
discrimination … [The] Court has shown some willingness to second-guess the
federal government on the exclusion of aliens—but some hesitation as well.”
George
Mason U. law Prof. Ilya Somin makes the case why the ban is unconstitutional, in
W. Post oped: “When you combine Giuliani’s admission with Trump’s own
numerous statements advocating a Muslim ban, it’s hard to find a clearer case of
discriminatory motives hiding behind a veneer of neutrality … Nothing in the
text or the original meaning of the Constitution indicates that immigration law
is an exception to the constitutional rights that constrain every other type of
government policy.”
Undocumented
sue for right to take out student loans. NYT: “The lawsuit, which seeks
class-action status, is one of the first to challenge common industry policies
that make it difficult for undocumented students to finance higher education.
The case was filed in San Francisco federal court, with the California League of
United Latin American Citizens participating as a plaintiff.”
DEVOS MAY BE CONFIRMED, PUZDER IN LIMBO
DeVos,
Sessions expected to be confirmed this week. CNN: “Senators are expected to
vote Tuesday on the nomination of Betsy DeVos for education secretary. She is
expected to be confirmed, with Vice President Mike Pence casting the
tie-breaking vote … Later in the week, a final confirmation vote could come for
attorney general nominee Sen. Jeff Sessions … Sessions is still needed in the
Senate to vote for DeVos
Puzder
in limbo. The Atlantic: “… his testimony has been put off indefinitely. An
aide to [Sen. Lamar] Alexander said the chairman would not schedule Puzder’s
hearing until the committee received both a signed agreement from the Office of
Government Ethics and responses to a standard questionnaire that is also missing
from his file … Puzder has now twice taken the awkward step of issuing public
statements confirming that, yes, he still wants the job … Alexander came under
intense criticism for Democrats for breaking with recent precedent by holding a
hearing for DeVos before she had submitted a signed ethics agreement. He has
decided not to do the same for Puzder, wanting to avoid a repeat of DeVos’s
experience…”
Scott
Pruitt develops subtle strategies to hobble EPA. NYT: “[Pruitt] is not
likely to start with the kind of shock and awe that Mr. Trump has used to
disorient Washington. Instead, he will use the legal tools at his disposal to
pare back the agency’s reach and power, and trim its budget selectively … His
changes may not have the dramatic flair favored by Mr. Trump, but they could
weaken the agency’s authority even long after Mr. Trump has left office … The
problem with many of Mr. Trump’s promises for the environmental agency is that
they cannot be met quickly without violating the law….”
RESISTANCE RISES
Many
of left emulate Tea Party tactics. NYT: “With congressional phone lines
overloaded and district offices mobbed across the country, it’s beginning to
look a lot like 2009 … Resisters want nothing to do with the uglier elements of
the Tea Party — the rallies where politicians were burned in effigy. But they
are eager to model its electoral tactics.”
Dems
warned not to neglect labor at DNC forum. MLive: “United Steelworkers Local
1999 President Chuck Jones … said from his experience, he’d never seen more
enthusiasm from workers for a presidential candidate than Bernie Sanders … ‘When
Bernie got put out of the primary, a lot of our folks were starting to drink
Trump’s Kool-Aid,’ Jones said. ‘We couldn’t bring them back in.’ … If Democrats
want to be successful in the future, Jones said, the party has to pay more
attention to the labor community.”
OBAMACARE REPEAL STALLS
Trump
taps breaks on Obamacare repeal. NYT: ” President Trump said in an interview
that aired on Sunday that a replacement health care law was not likely to be
ready until either the end of this year or in 2018 … Trump acknowledged that
replacing former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act is complicated,
though he reiterated his confidence that his administration could devise a plan
that would work better than the law — despite having provided few details of how
such a plan would work.”
Goldman
Sachs has second thoughts on Trump. Bloomberg: “‘Following the election, the
positive shift in sentiment among investors, business, and consumers suggested
that the probability of tax cuts and easier regulation was seen to be higher
than the probability of meaningful restrictions to trade and immigration,’
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. economists led by Alec Phillips wrote in note published
late last week. ‘One month into the year, the balance of risks is somewhat less
positive in our view.'”
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