Public Policy

  • February 06, 2025

    House Bill Aims To Ban DeepSeek On Gov't Devices

    A pair of U.S. House lawmakers on Thursday rolled out bipartisan legislation that would prohibit the installation of Chinese company DeepSeek's chatbot app on government-issued devices, citing "alarming" national security threats similar to those that have propelled efforts to ban video app TikTok nationwide.

  • February 06, 2025

    States Say NY Climate Act 'Wrings Funds' From Energy Cos.

    A coalition of 22 states sued New York state Thursday over its recently signed Climate Superfund Act, saying it constitutes an attack on U.S. energy producers that will be felt by consumers.

  • February 06, 2025

    Bipartisan US Senators Reintroduce Tribal Public Safety Bill

    Two Republican U.S. senators have joined two Democratic senators in reintroducing a bipartisan bill that would support the recruitment of Bureau of Indian Affairs law enforcement officers and improve efforts to resolve missing persons cases.

  • February 06, 2025

    House GOP Floats Stablecoin Bill Amid Debanking Buzz

    House Financial Services lawmakers unveiled a discussion draft of a bill to regulate stablecoins Thursday evening, joining a separate effort introduced in the U.S. Senate earlier this week.

  • February 06, 2025

    NCAA Bans Transgender Athletes From Women's Sports

    The NCAA announced Thursday it will ban athletes who were not assigned female at birth from competing in women's sports at its member colleges, one day after President Donald Trump issued an executive order threatening to withhold federal funding from institutions that allow it.

  • February 06, 2025

    Air Traffic Control System Upgrade In Spotlight After DC Crash

    In the week since a midair collision between an American Airlines regional jet and a U.S. Army helicopter over the Potomac River left 67 people dead, the Trump administration signaled Thursday that it's looking to expedite overhauling the nation's air traffic control system.

  • February 06, 2025

    Dem Sens. Re-Introduce Bill To Stop Algorithmic Price-Fixing

    A group of Democratic senators has re-introduced a bill that would prevent companies from using common software and shared data to set prices through algorithms, an issue that's been the subject of mounting litigation in the rental housing market and other sectors.

  • February 06, 2025

    Illinois Judge Extends Hold On Swipe Fee Law To More Banks

    An Illinois federal judge on Thursday expanded a preliminary injunction against Illinois' controversial swipe fee law, adding out-of-state banks to the list of financial institutions shielded from having to comply with the law when it takes effect later this year, while declining to add federal credit unions to the list.

  • February 06, 2025

    Ala. Tribe Fights Bid To Renew Burial Grounds Row

    The Poarch Band of Creek Indians is asking a federal district court to deny a bid by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation to renew a complaint in a dispute over an Alabama burial site, arguing the new claims should have been added to the original lawsuit more than a decade ago.

  • February 06, 2025

    Trump Creates DOJ Task Force Targeting 'Anti-Christian Bias'

    President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday establishing a U.S. Department of Justice task force to root out "anti-Christian bias" within federal agencies and prosecute vandalism and violence targeting churches and related religious organizations.

  • February 06, 2025

    Manager's Work, Not Gaza Posts, Led To Firing, Ill. City Says

    A former Evanston, Illinois, employee shouldn't be allowed to go to trial on claims that he was fired for publicly expressing sympathy for Palestinians in Gaza because evidence clearly proves his performance is what cost him his job, city officials argued Wednesday.

  • February 06, 2025

    EPA Places 168 Environmental Justice Workers On Leave

    Scores of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency workers who have been focused on environmental justice issues were placed on leave Thursday, in line with the Trump administration's promise to largely abandon that area of work.

  • February 06, 2025

    Anti-Legalization Group Vows To Go On 'Offense'

    The head of a leading anti-drug nonprofit on Thursday pledged to go on the offensive by lobbying to undo the federal law legalizing intoxicating hemp, fighting a pending proposal to loosen federal cannabis restrictions and attempting to reverse state-level legalization.

  • February 06, 2025

    Texas County Hit With Race Bias Suit Over Contracting Policy

    A landscaping company has sued Harris County in Texas federal court, alleging the county's Minority- and Woman-Owned Business Enterprise, or MWBE, contracting program unconstitutionally discriminates against white-owned businesses.

  • February 06, 2025

    Ga. Election Chief Asks Bondi To Drop Voting Rights Suit

    Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Thursday said he has asked U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to drop a Department of Justice lawsuit alleging that the state's 2021 election overhaul law disenfranchised Peach State voters.

  • February 06, 2025

    DOJ To Weigh Criminal Action Against Cos. With DEI Policies

    The U.S. Department of Justice will consider bringing criminal and civil investigations against companies over their diversity, equity and inclusion policies, according to a new memorandum from Attorney General Pam Bondi.

  • February 06, 2025

    ​​​​​​​Top Groups Lobbying The FCC

    The Federal Communications Commission heard from interest groups and companies around two dozen times in January, on issues ranging from consumer consent to receive telemarketing calls to UScellular's contested $4.4 billion plan to sell its wireless operations to T-Mobile.

  • February 06, 2025

    Judge OKs 'Unorthodox' Deal To Fund Pa. Hospitals In Ch. 11

    Bankrupt hospital operator Prospect Medical has agreed to put its four Philadelphia-area hospitals under receivership for the next 30 days while it hammers out a sale as part of a funding arrangement that a Texas bankruptcy judge on Thursday called "unorthodox."

  • February 06, 2025

    Stay On Right Side Of Payola Rules, FCC Warns Stations

    The Federal Communications Commission is warning radio broadcasters not to accept freebies from music artists in exchange for boosted airtime.

  • February 06, 2025

    Sam Altman Calls Musk's Claim Of Ban On Rivals 'False'

    OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the key claim made in a preliminary injunction request from Elon Musk in their ongoing investment spat is false, saying in a new declaration that he never told OpenAI investors that they wouldn't be able to invest in the company if they also invested in Musk's xAI.

  • February 06, 2025

    No Imminent Plans To Publish Jan. 6 FBI Agents List, DOJ Says

    FBI agents were unable to strike a deal Thursday that would block the federal government from releasing a list of FBI employees who investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, but the U.S. Department of Justice told a judge it does not immediately intend to make that information public.

  • February 06, 2025

    FCC Says No To Ohio Group's Bid For Low Power FM Station

    An Ohio church has come out on top in its battle to be awarded the rights to launch a low power FM station in its neck of the woods after the group it was up against was accused of knowingly listing a manager's dead grandmother on a license renewal application.

  • February 06, 2025

    Colo. Panel Upholds State Attys' Immunity In Defamation Row

    A Colorado appeals panel on Thursday upheld the dismissal of a state economist's defamation claims against two government lawyers, finding that nothing in the state's government immunity statute carves out an exception for lawyers and that professional misconduct does not automatically cancel lawyers' immunity.

  • February 06, 2025

    Dems Attack Bondi Memos Ahead Of Patel's Confirmation Vote

    While expressing their opposition to Kash Patel becoming FBI director, Democrats also took shots at newly confirmed Attorney General Pam Bondi, warning at a hearing on Thursday they fear the U.S. Department of Justice as a whole is becoming politicized.

  • February 06, 2025

    FTC GOP Focusing On Merger 'Friction,' AI, 'Censorship'

    Federal Trade Commission Republicans are beginning to signal their Trump-era policies, including a friendlier approach to mergers with fewer challenges based on "weak or factually unsupported theories," a more hands-off take on artificial intelligence, and a heavy emphasis on combating alleged online censorship of conservatives.

Expert Analysis

  • Takeaways From FDA's Updated Confirmatory Trial Guidance

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    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's latest draft guidance about accelerated drug approval indicates the FDA's intent to address the significant lag time between accelerated approval and full approval of drugs and may help motivate the industry to complete confirmatory trials, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Key Trends In PFAS Regulation And Litigation For 2025

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    The critical policy milestones for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances expected in 2025 will not only shape the trajectory of PFAS regulation, but also set key precedents for environmental accountability, potentially reshaping the corporate approach to these "forever chemicals" for decades to come, say attorneys at MG+M.

  • Inside New Commerce Tech Restrictions: Key Risk Takeaways

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    While there are a few limitations on the scope of a new final rule restricting certain foreign adversary products and technologies, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security retains sweeping authority to regulate an array of risk areas, says Peter Jeydel at Troutman.

  • The Most Important Schedule I Drug Regulatory Shifts Of 2024

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    In 2024, psychedelics and cannabis emerged as focal points in medical research, marking a pivotal year in their legal and regulatory journey, but these developments presented both opportunities and challenges within this evolving field, say Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell and Stephen Kim at Avicanna.

  • California's New Homeowner Law Could Hamper Foreclosures

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    While A.B. 2424, which took effect this month in California, gives homeowners in default additional protections, it also provides loopholes that can be used to delay foreclosure auctions, and the cost of these delays will likely be passed on to the borrower, says Stephen Britt at Severson & Werson.

  • Series

    Coaching Little League Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    While coaching poorly played Little League Baseball early in the morning doesn't sound like a good time, I love it — and the experience has taught me valuable lessons about imperfection, compassion and acceptance that have helped me grow as a person and as a lawyer, says Alex Barnett at DiCello Levitt.

  • How Fintechs Can Respond To New CFPB Supervisory Rule

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    Even though a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule pulling large payment apps into supervision faces an uncertain fate in the new administration, providers should still examine the rule's definitions and prepare for increased compliance costs and more consumer-friendly practices, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • Ruling Shows High Court Willing To Limit Immigration Review

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Bouarfa v. Mayorkas is the latest demonstration of the court’s readiness to limit judicial review in the immigration space, a notable break from other recent decisions that expanded judicial review of agency decisions in other areas, says Mark Fleming at WilmerHale.

  • 5 Litigation Funding Trends To Note In 2025

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    Lawyers and their clients must be prepared to navigate an evolving litigation funding market in 2025, made more complicated by a new administration and the increasing overall cost of litigation, says Jeffery Lula at GLS Capital.

  • Despite Political Divide, FEC Found Common Ground In '24

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    The Federal Election Commission, although evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, reached consensus in consequential advisory opinions, enforcement actions and regulations last year, offering welcome clarity on some key questions facing campaigns, PACs and parties, say attorneys at Covington.

  • How FTC Sent A $5.6M Warning Against Jumping The Gun

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    The Federal Trade Commission's recent record $5.6 million "gun jumping" action against Verdun Oil, for allegedly exerting control over EP Energy before the mandatory waiting period under U.S. antitrust law expired, warns companies that they must continue to operate independently during review, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.

  • How Deregulation Could Undermine Trump's Anti-DEI Agenda

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    While rolling back federal agency power benefited conservative policies during the Biden administration, it will likely undermine President Donald Trump's ability to wield agencies like the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives beyond the federal workforce and into the private sector, says Ally Coll at the Purple Method.

  • Managing Litigation Side-Switching During 2nd Trump Admin

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    Now that the new presidential administration is in place, the government will likely switch positions in a number of pending cases, and stakeholders should employ strategies to protect their interests, say attorneys at Covington.

  • A Look At Sweepstakes Casinos' Legal Issues In Fla., Beyond

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    Scheduled for trial in Florida federal court this fall, the VGW sweepstakes case underscores the growing urgency for gambling states to clarify and enforce their laws in response to emerging online gaming models, as the expansion of sweepstakes casinos challenges traditional interpretations of gambling regulations, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • 3 Noteworthy Effects Of The 2025 NDAA

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    The 2025 defense budget includes further restrictions on semiconductor sales to Huawei, requiring companies to rethink customer-base oversight, but other provisions are likely to broaden procurement contract opportunities, say attorneys at Miles & Stockbridge.

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