BABY I SWEAR IT’S DÉJA VU | Democrats Press For Investigation Into Kavanaugh Allegations | Trump Tries To Limit California’s Authority
September 18, 2019
TRY AS THEY MIGHT
|Democrats continued to press yesterday for action against JUSTICE BRETT KAVANAUGH in light of new information regarding his past sexual misconduct. SENATOR KAMALA HARRIS, who is running for president, urged the House Judiciary Committee to investigate the justice and “hold Mr. Kavanaugh accountable for his prior conduct and testimony.” Meanwhile, REP. AYANNA PRESSLEY filed an impeachment resolution filed an impeachment resolution to kick off an investigation that would mark the first step in an impeachment process.
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|But Paul Kane with The Washington Post argues that some Democrats aren’t too keen to jump into the Kavanaugh fight. While Republicans have “moved into a full offensive posture over the latest allegations,” some Democrats are going into a “defensive crouch.” At a news conference yesterday, Senate Minority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER didn’t bring up the topic of Kavanaugh, and in Senate floor speeches this week he focused on other issues.
A TREMENDOUSLY BIG DEAL
|The Trump administration is expected to take action to formally revoke California’s authority to set auto emissions rules that are stricter than federal standards. Coral Davenport with The New York Times said the move from the administration would help it take “a major step forward in its wide-ranging attack on government efforts to fight climate change.” This would take the administration into uncharted legal authority, but naturally the administration plans to take the fight all the way to SCOTUS if necessary. As NYU law professor RICHARD L. REVESZ puts it, “This is unprecedented and a tremendously big deal,” because never before has an administration revoked a state’s authority to regulate its own air quality.
DO LESS
|Keeping very busy, the Trump administration is also looking to rein in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It told the Supreme Court yesterday that the CFPB is unconstitutional because Congress limited the president’s power to remove the agency’s director before his or her five-year term expires. Jess Bravin with The Wall Street Journal reports.
IN TECH NEWS
|Yesterday, Facebook revealed its plans for a version of its own “Supreme Court” which will serve as an independent oversight board to review the company’s decisions about the posts, photos and videos it takes down or leaves online. MARK ZUCKERBERG said in a post, “We are responsible for enforcing our policies every day and we make millions of content decisions every week. But ultimately I don’t believe private companies like ours should be making so many important decisions about speech on our own.” Tony Romm with The Washington Post reports.
SCOTUS VIEWS
Don’t Revisit The Kavanaugh Fight. Learn From It.
The Washington Post“The Kavanaugh fight is over. But its unanswered questions need answers. We owe future justices — and ourselves — something better than a mystery.”
OTHER NEWS
Convicts In ‘Bridgegate’ Asking Supreme Court To Toss Case
The Associated Press“The so-called Bridgegate fraud case was merely ‘bare-knuckle New Jersey politics,’ attorneys wrote Tuesday in a filing to the U.S. Supreme Court as two onetime allies of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie seek to overturn their convictions. Bill Baroni and Bridget Kelly, once Christie’s close associates, have accused the government of overreaching in charging them with wire fraud and federal program fraud for realigning lanes at the busy George Washington Bridge into New York in 2013, ostensibly for a traffic study.”
In North Carolina, New Political Maps Don’t End Old Disputes
The New York Times“When a North Carolina state court struck down the state’s legislative political maps nearly two weeks ago, it said the maps had been drawn ‘with surgical precision’ to keep Republicans in control of both chambers. On Tuesday, state legislators approved new electoral maps — drawn under a court directive to ignore partisan considerations — that appear to give Republicans a slight political edge, some experts said. Republican legislators dismissed the early assessments as sour grapes.”