Source: Politico

The Trump administration is considering an executive order on withdrawing the U.S. from NAFTA, according to two White House officials.

A draft order has been submitted for the final stages of review and could be unveiled late this week or early next week, the officials said. The effort, which still could change in the coming days as more officials weigh in, would indicate the administration’s intent to withdraw from the sweeping pact by triggering the timeline set forth in the deal.

The approach appears designed to extract better terms with Canada and Mexico. President Donald Trump pledged on the campaign trail to renegotiate NAFTA, a trade deal signed in 1994 by former President Bill Clinton that removes tariffs and allows for the free flow of goods and services between the three countries in North America. Trump in recent weeks has stepped up his rhetoric vowing to terminate the agreement altogether.

“NAFTA’s been very, very bad for our country,” he said in a speech last week in Kenosha, Wisconsin. “It’s been very, very bad for our companies and for our workers, and we’re going to make some very big changes or we are going to get rid of NAFTA once and for all.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/26/white-house-nafta-withdraw-trump-237632

Source: Huffington Post

President Donald Trump will sit down for dinner with the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday evening, according to the White House.

It’s not clear whether all members of the court will attend, but newly confirmed Justice Neil Gorsuch, whom Trump nominated, is expected to join the president, the White House said on Sunday.

While such a gathering between the members of the executive and the judicial branch may seem unusual, it’s not unprecedented. President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden paid a visit to the Supreme Court in January 2008, just days before assuming office.

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On Sunday, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) noted the meeting could present potential conflicts of interest, since the Trump administration is involved in several legal battles concerning presidential power and immigration this year ― including a challenge to Trump’s travel ban from a federal judge in Hawaii.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-supreme-court-dinner_us_58fcfa9be4b018a9ce5c241d

Source: Politico

The Justice Department official who is leading the government’s investigation into potential collusion between President Donald Trump’s campaign and the Russian government will step down next month.

Mary McCord, who has served as acting assistant attorney general for national security since October, informed DOJ employees this week that she will be leaving in mid-May, a spokesman confirmed to POLITICO.

DOJ's National Security Division is leading the agency’s inquiry into possible links between Trump campaign aides and Moscow, as well as the Kremlin’s alleged digital meddling campaign during the 2016 presidential race.

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McCord replaced John Carlin, an Obama administration appointee who retired on Oct. 15. It is not yet known who will succeed her. There are four deputy assistant attorneys general, each of whom oversees a different part of the NSD’s portfolio.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/20/top-doj-cyber-official-to-leave-post-next-month-237427

Source: ABC News

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is warning undocumented immigrants in the United States of a new "Trump era" of stricter enforcement of the nation's immigration laws, unveiling harsher punishments for those living in the country illegally.

"For those that continue to seek improper and illegal entry into this country, be forewarned: This is a new era. This is the Trump era," Sessions said in remarks to immigration officials in Arizona today. "The lawlessness, the abdication of the duty to enforce our immigration laws, and the catch and release practices of old are over."

Sessions told agents from the Customs and Border Protection that he promised to "bring the full weight of both the immigration courts and federal criminal enforcement to combat this attack on our national security and sovereignty."

The Department of Justice plans to add 125 new immigration judges over the next two years via an expedited hiring process, an effort to combat the buildup of cases in the country's immigration courts. He also said that undocumented immigrants will be charged with a felony instead of a misdemeanor if they try to enter the country illegally for a second time.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/sessions-warns-trump-era-immigration-enforcement/story?id=46730861

Source: The Hill

When Judge Neil Gorsuch is sworn in to the Supreme Court on Monday, he will become the court’s 101st associate justice and most junior member.

Before the election and his nomination by President Trump to the Supreme Court, Gorsuch had a lesson from current junior justice Elena Kagan, the Washington Post recounted Sunday.

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Kagan said the junior justice is assigned to the monthly cafeteria committee until the next justice is confirmed. The committee helps decide the meals for when the justices dine together during oral arguments.

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The third task, which Kagan called the “most important junior justice responsibility”: They must open the door. “Literally if I’m like in the middle of a sentence — let’s say it’s my turn to speak or something — and there’s a knock on the door, everybody will just stare at me, waiting for me to open the door," she said.

Read more: http://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/328046-kagan-says-there-are-three-things-the-junior-supreme-court-justice

Source: NY Times

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Venezuelan security forces on Tuesday clashed with protesters on the streets of Caracas as thousands gathered to protest a decision by the country’s Supreme Court to seize power from the legislature.

While the court reversed the most disputed parts of its ruling on Saturday, that did not stop crowds from massing in a large middle-class Caracas district to accuse President Nicolás Maduro of trying to eviscerate Venezuela’s democratic institutions and establish one-man rule.

The National Guard and the national police arrived about an hour after the demonstration began, firing tear gas into the throngs and deploying trucks mounted with water cannon. Armed pro-government gangs harassed protesters and shot one person in the leg, according to Ramón Muchacho, the mayor of Chacao, a neighboring district. At least eight others were hurt, he told reporters.

“I march today to see my family reunited again,” said Lilian Tintori, an opposition activist whose husband, Leopoldo López, a former mayor of Chacao, is serving a nearly 14-year prison sentence.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/04/world/americas/venezuela-maduro-protests-supreme-court.html