A federal district court in Hawaii late last night dealt  the most serious blow yet to President Trump's attempt to impose a 90-day long travel ban for travelers from six predominantly-Muslim countries, bar refugee admissions from all countries for 120 days, and reduce the number of refugees who may be admitted to the United States in the current fiscal year from 110,000 to 50,000 

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies has scheduled a hearing for this week to examine the President' FY '18 budget request for the Department of Health and Human Services.  The hearing is scheduled for 10:00 am on Wednesday, March 29, 2017, in Room 2358-C of the Rayburn House Office Building.

The House Committee on Foreign Affairs has scheduled a business meeting for this week, during which it will mark up a number of measures, including H.R. 390, the "Iraq and Syria Genocide Emergency Relief and Accountability Act".  In acting, however, the Committee is expected to strip all of the refugee-related provisions from the bill.

This week's markup session is scheduled for 10:30 am on Wednesday, March 29, 2017, in Room 2172 of The Rayburn House Office Building.

Sources indicate that late last week, President Trump appointed Edward Scott Lloyd to be the new Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR).

Lloyd, who goes by the name Scott, was born and raised in Stone  Harbor, New Jersey.  Prior to joining ORR, he was Senior Policy Coordinator to the Knights of Columbus a Catholic fraternal and charitable organization, where he served as an attorney in the Public Policy office.  In that capacity, he helped shape the organization’s humanitarian response and led its policy advocacy on behalf of the ethnic and religious minorities who are the victims of ISIS.

A federal district court in Hawaii has scheduled a hearing for this week in the case that resulted in the issuance of a nationwide  temporary restraining order (Hawaii Order) blocking the Trump Administration from implementing two key portions of the March 6, 2017, executive order on refugee admissions and travel to the United States. The hearing is scheduled for 3:30 pm EDT on Wednesday, March 29, 2017.