COURTS/ELECTION/GOP/REGULATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “With the 2020 presidential campaign already underway, one of President Donald Trump’s best opportunities to seal a solid first-term legacy lies in his deregulation agenda — a goal broadly embraced by most Republicans. His administration already has 514 deregulatory measures in process, addressing issues as diverse as federal student loans and climate change. There is, however, one complication: the federal courts. You can expect that virtually every one of Trump’s deregulatory actions will be challenged in court. These suits, which are relatively inexpensive to file, will likely allege that the Trump administration has in some way exceeded or abused presidential power. Can Trump’s deregulatory moves survive judicial challenges? The answer will be determined case by case, but there are several reasons to believe that many of the actions will be reversed or delayed by federal judges. Here’s why. Over the past few months, we pored through judicial records and tallied up how many lawsuits challenging deregulation filed after Trump became president have been successful and whether the deciding judges were appointed by Democratic or Republican presidents.”
–John Graham and Keith Belton, “Will Trump’s deregulation agenda survive?,” Politico, March 26, 2019 5:09 am