1/ The House passed a resolution to block and overturn Trump’s unilateral national emergency declaration to get the border wall money that Congress denied him. “The President’s act is lawless,� Nancy Pelosi said. “It does violence to our Constitution and therefore to our democracy. His declaration strikes at the heart of our Founders’ concept of America, which demands separation of powers.� The House voted 245-182, mostly along party lines, with 13 Republicans defecting to side with Democrats. The Senate now has 18 days to bring it to the floor for a vote, where it’s also expected to pass. Four Republican votes are needed to ensure passage if all Senate Democrats vote for the disapproval resolution, and three Republican senators — Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Thom Tillis — have already signaled they will support the measure. Congress has never tried to cancel a national emergency declared by a president, and Trump has vowed to veto any measure that blocks funding for his border wall. (New York Times / Washington Post / CNN / ABC News / Washington Post / Reuters / Politico / Los Angeles Times)

2/ Paul Manafort’s attorneys asked for leniency as he faces the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison. In a court filing, Manafort’s attorneys described the 69-year-old as a man who has been “personally, professionally, and financially� broken by Robert Mueller’s investigation, and as someone who deserves a sentence “significantly� below the statutory maximum of 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy charges. Manafort’s lawyers also wrote that because “this case is not about murder, drug cartels, organized crime, the Madoff Ponzi scheme or the collapse of Enron,� the former Trump campaign chairman shouldn’t be sentenced too harshly. Two federal judges will sentence Manafort on two separate occasions over the next month for criminal charges that include tax and bank fraud, witness tampering, and working as an unregistered lobbyist for a foreign government. (Politico / NPR / The Guardian / Salon)