This report discusses President Trump's nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court and deliberation by Senators as part of the initial phases of determining whether to provide "Advice and Consent" to the nomination.

This report discusses the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 and a recent Supreme Court case decision in "NLRB v SW General Inc." related to acting officials filling Presidential nominated positions under the Vacancies Act.

This report discusses developments since January 2017 related to legal challenges to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and health care reform.

This report discusses the Supreme Court's ruling in "Ziglar v. Abbassi" and the "Bivens" remedy that the plaintiffs were attempting to use to win their case. The "Bivens" remedy is a legal precedent that came from a 1971 case where the plaintiff Bivens sued federal agents with the Federal Bureau of Narcotics for violations of the fourth amendment due to them handcuffing him inside his own home without a warrant. It has been used two other times for suits against federal officials related to breaches of constitutional rights, one related to gender bias and equality and the other for lack of medical care in prison.

This report discusses the use of private immigration bills in Congress which allow Congress to grant permanent residency status to an immigrant who is not eligible under normal immigration procedures but that they deem to have extraordinary equities in the United States. It also addresses the announcement of new rules by the Immigration and Citizenship Enforcement Department (ICE) that limit stays of removal granted to immigrants who are proposed beneficiaries of a private immigration bill in Congress.

This report discusses state government efforts to uphold the requirements of the Paris Agreement on climate change after the announcement of the U.S.'s planned withdrawal from the agreement and constitutional limits on their efforts.

This report discusses the current rules for special counsels investigating executive branch officials and new proposed laws regarding special counsels and the process required to remove one from their position.

This report provides a general overview of the pardon power and briefly addresses a few frequently-asked legal questions concerning its scope and application, such as: whether the President can issue a "prospective pardon, pardon himself or issue "secret" pardons, whether the acceptance of a pardon is an admission of guilt, and whether Congress can regulate the President's pardon power.

This report discusses the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in the case of "Microsoft Corporation v. United States" where the court ruled that the U.S. could not enforce a subpoena asking Microsoft to retrieve emails stored on a server in Ireland. On June 28, 2017 the United States filed for reversal of the decision through a writ of certiorari in the Supreme Court.

This report outlines some of the major implications of ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program, including common questions about what happens to current DACA recipients, and possibilities for Congress to consider.

This report discusses whether the U.S. airstrike on a Syrian airbase in retaliation for Syria's use of chemical weapons was legal under international laws as outlined in the U.N. Charter.

This report briefly addresses questions about the extent to which the executive branch may unilaterally renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and implement amendments to the agreement in domestic law without further action from Congress.

This report discusses laws that govern the legality or possible repercussions of leaking government information of various types to the press.

This report discusses the use and rules regarding invoking Fifth Amendments rights during Congressional investigations in the wake of the use of the Fifth Amendment by former national security adviser Michael Flynn during Congressional investigations.

This report discusses the first case of enforcement by the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) against a foreign-based virtual currency exchange. The action was taken agains BTC-e for violations of anti-money laundering regulations in the U.S. and potential money laundering activities.

This report discusses the confirmation of Judge Neil Gorsuch as a Supreme Court Justice and the effects he may have on current and upcoming cases as the ninth member of the Supreme Court.

This report provides a description of Executive Order (EO) 13768 "Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States" issued on January 25, 2017 by President Trump. It highlights, in particular, potential questions about how the EO could be construed in regard to "sanctuary cities" and briefly discusses the claims made by those jurisdictions challenging the EO.

This report provides an overview of the prohibitions on foreign money under federal campaign finance law.

This report discusses the rule of qualified immunity for police officers, which prevents officers from being sued for actions taken in the course of their job unless there was a clear decision by the officer to break the law or incompetence. It specifically discusses the case of "White v. Pauly" heard by the Supreme Court, which upheld qualified immunity for Officer White after he was accused of violating a suspect's fourth amendment rights by use of excessive force to seize the suspect who had been fatally shot during the incident.

This report discusses the authorities who may appoint a special counsel or independent counsel to conduct criminal investigations of the executive branch when the Department of Justice may have a conflict of interest.

This report discusses a Supreme Court case regarding whether men detained after 9/11 by federal authorities can sue the individual officials involved in their arrest and detainment that was due to be heard by a six justice court due to the death of Justice Scalia and the recusements of two other justices.

This report lists the fifteen previous instances of U.S. Attorney General's recusing themselves from an investigation since 1989 after the announcement by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions that he was recusing himself from and any investigations regarding President Donald Trump's presidential campaign.

This report discusses a case which was brought by Army Captain Nathan Smith against President Barack Obama in 2016, arguing that President Obama had no authority to be conducting the campaign against the Islamic State because no Congressional approval had been given. The case was dismissed in Nov. 2016 but he has appealed the dismissal of the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals.

This report provides brief answers to some of the questions regarding immigration agents' authority to apprehend and remove aliens; these questions were raised by reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conducted enforcement actions in at least six states during the week of February 6, 2017.