Sinema amendment on Title 42 fails by a huge margin. Now up, Lee amendment on Title 42

https://twitter.com/senateppg/status/1605966315541254153

Yes votes for the Sinema amendment were Cornyn, Hassan, Kelly, Manchin, Ossoff, Shaheen, Sinema, Tester & a couple I'm missing

Sinema proposes this amendment on the omnibus after vote plans stalled last night over Sen. Lee’s Title 42 amendment. Sinema measure would extend Title 42 until a "proper plan" is in place I talked to Sinema yesterday about her border security and immigration legislation push, which at that point seemed like a plan for the next Congress. Alas, border issues always find a way into eleventh hour legislative drama

about.bgov.com/news/sinema-sa…

I talked with Kyrsten Sinema about her immigration framework with Thom Tillis and how she's aiming to push it forward in the next Congress, starting with a congressional trip to the border in January

about.bgov.com/news/sinema-sa… (no paywall) Obviously the plan faces tougher odds next Congress, with a GOP-controlled House & a new crop of senators who may be less interested in a deal than those who are retiring this year.

Sinema said she’s already talking with Rs & Ds in the House in addition to Senate colleagues

Here's the rundown on border & immigration enforcement $$ in the omnibus:

-$16.5B for CBP, incl $1.6 billion for increased migrant encounters
-300 additional Border Patrol agents
-$8.4B for ICE, detention capacity flat at 34K beds

For subscribers: bgov.com/next/news/RN6X… Also $800M for new CBP Shelter and Services grant program (replacing Emergency Food & Shelter humanitarian account) for nonprofits & local govts helping with migrant needs

Reps. Castro and Escobar hold presser pushing for passage of immigrant work permits & deportation protections in Build Back Better bill "While that is absolutely inadequate, we have to get that across the goal line," Escobar says of immigration language currently in play

Starting soon: Senate border subcommittee hearing on SW border ports of entry. ICE, GSA & CBP officials testifying. Sen. Sinema chairs the panel

hsgac.senate.gov/hearings/feder… Hearing starts w/ discussion of bipartisan infrastructure bill & its investment in land ports of entry. CBP's Diane Sabatino says it will allow agency to complete a number of modernization projects

NEW: Top House homeland Republican shrugs off effort to oust him from position after he voted for infrastructure bill

"It would be nice if people spent more time worrying about the issues instead of trying to take out their colleagues," Katko told me

bgov.com/core/news_arti… $ He also touted his own value to GOP: "The only thing I’m really concerned about is continuing to do what I’ve been doing … focusing on issues that will help us get back the majority: border issues, the cyber issues, the police issues. Let all this other stuff work itself out.”

Durbin says during hearing on DHS oversight that Democrats are trying to include immigration reform in reconciliation & notes that exact form remains uncertain Grassley, in opening statement, says DHS is being run like an "Abolish ICE fan club." Complains about border crossing numbers, enforcement priorities

🚨 NEWS: Key Democrat Sen. Menendez says he won’t support efforts to streamline legal immigration unless lawmakers also pursue a pathway to citizenship for the undocumented

bgov.com/core/news_arti… $$ His comments come as Democrats weigh next round of backup options after parliamentarian rejected latest option for legalization

Starting now: homeland.house.gov

https://twitter.com/ellengilmer/status/1443174409519443971

Expect a big emphasis on worker rights and morale this morning. DHS announced earlier this year that it would give security officers expanded collective bargaining & Merit Systems Protection Board rights. MSPB reached agreement w/ TSA this week

At a session of the Immigration Law & Policy Conference today, Esther Olavarria -- White House's deputy director of Domestic Policy Council for immigration -- discusses reconciliation process. Notes that Durbin & Schumer staffs are pitching alternatives ... Immigration registry is one of them. "If not that, then other options that don't provide permanent residence but do provide employment authorization and protection from removal for various categories" of people, she says.

Coming up soon: DHS Secretary Mayorkas speaks at the Immigration Law and Policy Conference. Expect we'll hear a bit more from him on this morning's DACA reg proposal, among other things Mayorkas starts now w/ a question about Haitian migrants, TPS and repatriation flights.

Jury selection in the Derek Chauvin trial begins today. We looked at how challenging that process is for such a high-profile case, with added complexities involving race and Covid-19. w/ @MayaEarls

news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/is… Here, @lstephenjoycejr looks at how Minneapolis is preparing for the trial

news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/mi…

From last week: I delved into the future of SEPs, the popular environmental enforcement tools sidelined under Trump & recently revived, in theory 👇

news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-an… Enforcement lawyers expect to see future challenges to SEPs after Trump officials adopted & amplified old concerns that the projects (used as part of env. settlements) are illegal.

Jeffrey Bossert Clark, the DOJ attorney at the center of yesterday's bombshell NYT story, was the Trump admin's top environment lawyer -- someone we cover closely at Bloomberg @environment.

Here's our story on what lies ahead for him:

news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-an… @environment Aside from a potential federal probe, Clark may face legal ethics complaints (though some think disciplinary action is unlikely) and a VERY tough job market.

"I think most firms are committed to upholding the rule of law ... Jeff Clark would be radioactive in their minds"

More Biden admin agency lawyers in EPA's new list of senior staff
-Melissa Hoffer, of Mass. AG's office, as principal deputy general counsel
-Dimple Chaudhary, of NRDC, as deputy general counsel Others on the list
-EDF's Tomas Carbonell as deputy asst. administrator
-Georgetown's Vicki Arroyo as associate administrator
-Harvard's Joe Goffman as principle deputy assistant administrator
-Dan Utech as chief of staff
+ several other folks on the list

A few brief notes on Justice Ginsburg's environmental legacy. 👇

One of her most notable majority opinions in that area is EPA v. EME Homer in 2014, in which the court salvaged a key EPA program designed to reduce air pollution that drifts across state lines The ruling reversed then-Judge Kavanaugh's decision to strike the regulation down. The program is now a centerpiece of EPA air regulations.

It's been a wild month or so in environmental law, with TWO Supreme Court decisions and lots of big lower court decisions on Trump admin rollbacks, etc.

A quick thread 👇 At the end of March, we had a few major decisions in energy-related cases w/ long histories. First, a ruling saying the Trump admin's Dakota Access pipeline analysis violated NEPA news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-an…