Today’s Headlines and Commentary

The Trump administration is pushing to reopen much of the U.S. economy on May 1, raising concerns among public health experts of a resurgence of COVID-19 if social distancing measures are relaxed too soon, reports the Washington Post.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the Security Council yesterday that the coronavirus pandemic is “potentially leading to an increase in social unrest and violence that would greatly undermine our ability to fight the disease,” writes the Associated Press.

Attorney General William Barr said in an interview yesterday that he supported President Trump’s decision to fire the intelligence community’s inspector general, reports the Post. Michael Atkinson, the dismissed inspector general, had initially alerted Congress about a whistleblower complaint that led to Trump’s impeachment,

U.S. intelligence agencies began tracking the novel coronavirus outbreak as early as November, weeks before that information was included in President Trump’s daily intelligence briefing, according to CNN.

A sailor from the USS Theodore Roosevelt who tested positive for COVID-19 was sent to an intensive care unit yesterday, writes the Hill.

The Trump administration has carried out almost 10,000 summary deportations since March 21, using emergency public health measures that have given U.S. Customs and Border Protection authority to bypass immigration laws, reports the Washington Post. The moves have dramatically reduced the number of detainees held in border stations, where CBP fears the coronavirus could spread.

The State Department’s top diplomat for the Middle East said yesterday that Iranian-backed militia pose a “significant” threat to U.S. forces in Iraq, writes Reuters. Paramilitary groups supported by Tehran have regularly been shelling bases in Iraq that host U.S. forces.

Iraq’s president designated the country’s intelligence chief as prime minister, the third attempt to form a government, according to the Wall Street Journal. After pro-Iranian factions thwarted the previous candidate for the premiership, Adnan al-Zurfi, Mustafa al-Kadhimi has been tasked with putting together a cabinet at a time when the country faces: the coronavirus outbreak and crashing oil prices,

Pakistan has asked Afghanistan to extradite a leader of the local Islamic State affiliate who was arrested in southern Afghanistan earlier this month, reports the Associated Press. The alleged leader is a Pakistani national.

ICYMI: Yesterday on Lawfare

Jen Patja Howell shared an episode of the Lawfare Podcast’s “Arbiters of Truth” series, featuring a discussion with Kate Klonick and Alina Polyakova.

Brittany Benowitz and Tommy Ross examined the gaps in the current toolkit to regulate proxy wars.

Bobby Chesney and Steve Vladeck shared the most recent episode of the National Security Law Podcast.

Lama Mourad and Stephanie Schwartz discussed how COVID-19 could upend international asylum norms.

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