As of last week, 565 migrant children who were separated from their parents by the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy remained separated and in U.S. custody. Late Thursday, the Trump administration told a federal court in San Diego that that number has barely budged, dropping to 528 nearly a month after the court’s deadline to reunite all of the separated children. Of the still-separated group, 23 are younger than 5 years old.

A new investigation from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released Thursday morning found that several Trump administration actions depressed enrollment in the Affordable Care Act marketplace during last fall’s open enrollment period.

Maine Gov. Paul LePage’s crusade to block Medicaid expansion in his state took another hit on Thursday, after the state’s highest court ruled that he must submit a plan to implement the Medicaid expansion voters overwhelmingly approved in 2017.

A lawsuit filed by 20 GOP-controlled states and supported by the Trump administration could end up becoming a serious liability for Republican candidates this November. The suit seeks to gut the remainder of the Affordable Care Act, and will go before a conservative Texas federal judge in early September, just two months before voters go to the polls to decide which party controls the House, the Senate, and dozens of influential state and local seats.

Three low-income Arkansans currently enrolled in Medicaid sued the Trump administration last week over its approval of strict work requirements for enrollees in the state, rules they say threaten to kick them and thousands of others off their coverage. The legal arguments in the case are very similar to the one that successfully struck down Kentucky’s Medicaid work requirement in June, essentially saying that Trump’s HHS violated both the Medicaid statute and the Constitution in approving the rules without taking into account the harm they could cause. In Arkansas, the only state so far to actually implement a work requirement, that harm is imminent. Thousands of people could lose their insurance this summer after failing to navigate the new online-only system for filing their work hours.

But these lawsuits are not stopping or slowing down the Trump administration’s crusade for Medicaid restrictions. Politico reports that HHS is on the brink of approving work requirements in at least three more states — Arizona, Wisconsin and Maine — and is prepared to allow Wisconsin, for the first time, to ask Medicaid beneficiaries if they use drugs or are in recovery. Gov. Scott Walker (R) originally wanted to go further, and asked HHS for permission to implement mandatory tests for any Medicaid applicant who flagged a history of drug use and deny coverage to those who refused the test or refused to enter treatment if they tested positive. Legal experts told TPM this would be blatantly unconstitutional.

Yet the Trump administration is also taking some steps to shore up the ACA.

HHS approved New Jersey’s plan to implement a statewide individual mandate and reinsurance program to help stabilize the ACA market and bring down insurance premiums — steps intended to repair the damage done by Congress’ repeal of the national individual mandate and the Trump administration’s repeated blows to the ACA. HHS also announced a grant of $8.6 million to help states strengthen their ACA markets.

Meanwhile, health care is set to play a major role in this November’s midterm elections. Across the country, vulnerable red and purple state Democrats are campaigning on protecting people with preexisting conditions, and are attacking their Republican challengers for supporting a lawsuit that would gut the ACA’s coverage guarantee.

Sens. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Joe Donnelly (D-IN) are all running aggressively on health care, and polling indicates it’s a winning issue for them.

And just a month before the midterms, the lawsuit by GOP attorneys general — including Manchin and McCaskill’s challengers for the Senate — that seeks to strike down the ACA will be up before a federal court in Texas. Casting aside the oath to uphold and defend the federal laws on the books, the Trump administration is siding with the GOP states in the case, and will argue for gutting the ACA’s protections for preexisting conditions on Sept. 5. To do so so close to the election is not a great look, and Democrats will certainly make hay of it.

ALEXANDRIA, VA — The jury in the Paul Manafort bank and tax fraud trial ended the week without a verdict. They will continue deliberations at 9:30 a.m. ET Monday.

The jury asked to be dismissed a bit early on Friday, at 5 p.m. ET, because one of the jurors had an event later in the evening. Judge T.S. Ellis granted the jury’s request, noting with a smile that he was letting them out 5 minutes ahead of their proposed time.

Ellis instructed the jury not to discuss the case with anyone or “undertake any investigation” on their own.

“Put the case out of your minds until Monday,” he told the jury.

The jury has so far spent two days deliberating in the case. Late Thursday afternoon, the jury asked the court for clarification on several issues related to the charges Manafort faces. The questions related to the requirements to file FBAR reports; a definition of “shelf” companies; clarification of the term reasonable doubt; and whether the exhibit list could be linked up to reflect counts Manafort faces.

Manafort has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Kevin Downing, a defense attorney for Manafort, responded to those questions favorably on Thursday.

“They’re great questions,” he told TPM. He said they showed the jury was working through the “complicated” issues in the case.

President Trump weighed in on the trial against his former campaign chairman Friday before leaving the White House.

“I think the whole Manafort trial is very sad,” Trump told reporters. “When you look at what’s going on there, I think it’s a very sad day for our country. He worked for me for a very short period of time. And you know what? He happens to be a very good person. I think it’s very sad what they’ve done to Paul Manafort.”

Trump: "It's very sad what they've done to Paul Manafort." pic.twitter.com/JWAQufXyE8

— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) August 17, 2018

Outside the courtroom, Downing told reporters that Manafort’s team “really appreciates the support of President Trump.”

ALEXANDRIA, VA — The judge presiding over the federal bank and tax fraud case against Paul Manafort on Friday declined to release the names of the jurors serving in the trial.

Judge T.S. Ellis cited threats jurors have received over the course of the trial, which begun about three weeks ago.

“I don’t feel right” about releasing the names, Ellis said.

Ellis was responding to a lawyer representing several media organizations that are seeking to unseal records in the case — including the identities of the jurors, transcripts of bench conferences between lawyers and the judge and a third category that is under seal because it relates to an ongoing investigation. Ellis did not specify the nature of the investigation.

Matthew Kelley, the lawyer representing the news organizations, argued in a hearing on the sealed records that there should be a presumption of openness when it comes to the names of the jurors. Kelley said there had not been any specific threats against the jurors, to which Ellis shot back, “I can tell you there have.”

Ellis added that he has also received threats, and is traveling with a U.S. marshall out of fear for his personal safety.

While the judge expressed sympathy with the media organizations’ desire for records to be available to the public, Ellis said if the court releases the names of the jurors, it could preclude people from participating in future “cases with notoriety.”

Manafort was in the courtroom during the hearing.

The jury continued to deliberate for a second day Friday. Late Thursday, the jury sought clarification on several issues related to the charges against Manafort.

Manafort has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The federal judge in Virginia overseeing the trial of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort signaled Friday that he is amenable to unsealing some of the records in the case that media organizations are seeking.

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis said his intention is eventually to unseal everything except for a few names and medical details.

“I made it clear at the time that these matters would not be permanently under seal. I don’t do things to keep from being scrutinized and criticized,” Ellis said.

Ellis said he will hold a hearing on the matter Friday afternoon. Media organizations were seeking to intervene in the case to obtain access to the sealed records.

“I’m no stranger to criticism. But this case has brought it to a new level,” Ellis added, drawing laughter in the courtroom.

The motion by new organizations:

Two days after President Trump and senior adviser Kellyanne Conway confirmed the administration’s unprecedented practice of making White House staffers sign non-disclosure agreements, former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski told reporters that he doubts such agreements for federal employees could hold up in court.

“I just don’t know if they’re valid whatsoever,” he said, adding the caveat that he is not an attorney himself. “Other than the disclosure of classified information, which is a crime in and of itself, I don’t know how you hold a public employee, a government employee, accountable to a non-disclosure agreement. I don’t know how that’s enforceable whatsoever.”

Three low-income Arkansans with pre-existing health conditions sued the Trump administration on Tuesday for giving their state the go-ahead to impose strict monthly work requirements on Medicaid and restrict the number of months for which the program will retroactively cover the health expenses of new enrollees. More plaintiffs may join the case in the months to come.

The lawsuit argues that the administration’s decision was arbitrary and capricious, violates the Constitution’s “take care” clause, and breaks with the original purpose of Medicaid by putting thousands of residents at risk of losing their insurance coverage.

Nationwide and in Arkansas, the vast majority of Medicaid recipients already work, and most non-working recipients are not able to work, either because of an illness or disability or the scarcity of jobs in their area. Yet the promotion of the rules has been a top priority of the Trump administration, despite data showing that similar requirements in other federal benefits programs failed to increase employment.