Public Policy

  • March 05, 2025

    Trump's NIH Cost-Cutting Measure Blocked By Judge

    A Massachusetts federal judge ruled Wednesday that the Trump administration cannot cap indirect costs for research grants at the National Institutes of Health, rejecting the move as a rushed cost-saving measure that violates federal law governing the expenses.

  • March 05, 2025

    IRS Updates Foreign Housing Expense Limits For 2025

    The Internal Revenue Service released adjustments to the limitation on foreign housing expense deductions and exclusions for 2025 on Wednesday.

  • March 05, 2025

    High Court Allows Release Of Frozen USAID Foreign Aid

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that a D.C. federal judge can require the Trump administration to release up to $2 billion in frozen foreign aid funding, but told the judge he must clarify the scope of the government's responsibility and ensure it has enough time to comply with any deadline. 

  • March 04, 2025

    Trump Calls For Return To 'Law And Order' In Joint Address

    A defiant President Donald Trump during his address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night condemned the supposed ability of a sitting president to "viciously prosecute" their political opponents, such as himself, and quipped "how did that work out?"

  • March 04, 2025

    Banks To Face New Defenders Of CFPB Overdraft Rule

    A Mississippi federal judge said Tuesday that he will allow two outside nonprofits to step into litigation over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's $5 overdraft fee rule and defend the Biden-era regulation against a banking industry-backed legal challenge.

  • March 04, 2025

    Sens. Again Push Bill To Boost Online Protections For Teens

    A bipartisan pair of U.S. senators on Tuesday revived a longstanding legislative proposal that would expand digital privacy protections to cover teens between the ages of 13 and 16, ban targeted advertising to minors and require companies to enable the erasure of underage users' personal information.

  • March 04, 2025

    Shipping Council Urges DC Circ. To Nix Maritime Rule

    An ocean carrier trade association is urging the D.C. Circuit to wipe out new regulations defining unreasonable refusals to deal in the maritime industry, telling the appeals court that the "vague" rule has thrown the carriers into confusion.

  • March 04, 2025

    Agencies Have 'Ultimate' Authority Over Firings, OPM Says

    The Office of Personnel Management on Tuesday issued a revised version of its January memo directing agency heads to identify all probationary employees, adding a disclaimer that OPM "is not directing agencies to take any specific performance-based actions" and that agencies "have ultimate decision-making authority."

  • March 04, 2025

    3 Takeaways From The High Court's SF Water Permit Ruling

    The U.S. Supreme Court's Tuesday ruling siding with San Francisco to strike down parts of a federal water pollution permit demonstrated a majority of justices' reluctance to force permit holders to interpret gray areas that could get them in trouble.

  • March 04, 2025

    Justices Asked To Uphold Ruling Against Anti-Terror Law

    The Palestine Liberation Organization is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to affirm a ruling striking down a 2019 law nixing a jurisdictional hurdle for lawsuits stemming from terrorist attacks in Israel and the Palestinian territories, arguing that the law "attempts an end-run around settled constitutional analysis."

  • March 04, 2025

    'Remarkable Coincidence': Judge Blasts Refugee Cuts Timing

    A Washington federal judge on Tuesday criticized the U.S. State Department for canceling resettlement contracts a day after he blocked President Donald Trump's sudden shutdown of the refugee entry program, saying he had concerns it was done to deliberately circumvent his court's ruling.

  • March 04, 2025

    Mich. Suit Shows Courts' Growing Role In Split Governments

    Michigan Republicans who faced an intra-legislature lawsuit after they stalled bills to keep them from being signed into law is another example of a trend that may see the courts brought in to settle partisan disputes, experts tell Law360.

  • March 04, 2025

    Dems Demand Halt To Trump Admin's Tribal Program Cuts

    More than 100 Democratic lawmakers have urged the Trump administration to halt any executive orders that hurt programs and services in Indian Country, saying in a letter to the White House that the U.S. government must honor its trust and treaty obligations to tribes.

  • March 04, 2025

    Minn. County Officials Claim Bias In DOI's Land Trust Decision

    A trio of Minnesota municipalities are asking a federal court for a quick win in a dispute over more than 3,000 acres taken into trust for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Indians, arguing that the decisions are the product of an unconstitutionally biased process.

  • March 04, 2025

    House Aviation Panel Weighs Air Traffic Control Fixes

    Aviation workers' unions and industry stakeholders told lawmakers on Tuesday that years of political inertia and more recent tumult related to the federal workforce firings are impacting efforts to hire more air traffic controllers and overhaul the nation's outdated and overburdened ATC system.

  • March 04, 2025

    Fla. Med Mal Damages Loophole Facing Lawmaker Scrutiny

    With the new legislative session now underway in the Florida Legislature, state lawmakers are once again considering doing away with a statute that plaintiffs attorneys say unfairly and arbitrarily limits pain-and-suffering damages in fatal medical malpractice cases, but healthcare providers are saying not so fast.

  • March 04, 2025

    House GOP Push WH Right To Send State Cases To Fed. Court

    House Republicans on Tuesday rallied behind a bill that would let current and former presidents move state cases against them to federal court, calling the legislation a response to weaponized prosecutions of President Donald Trump.

  • March 04, 2025

    10th Circ. Upholds EPA Approval Of Colo. Smog Plan Changes

    A Tenth Circuit panel on Tuesday affirmed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's approval of two changes to Colorado's plan to bring Denver and the northern Front Range into compliance with ozone pollution standards, rejecting a challenge brought by conservation groups.

  • March 04, 2025

    Trump To Drop Biden-Era Suit Against Idaho Abortion Ban

    The Trump administration has said it plans to drop a federal lawsuit alleging that Idaho's strict abortion ban conflicts with a federal emergency stabilization law, a reversal from the Biden administration's legal efforts that fought the ban up to the U.S. Supreme Court. 

  • March 04, 2025

    Ruger Must Face Colorado Shooting Suits In Connecticut

    Connecticut-based gunmaker Sturm Ruger & Co. Inc. must face two lawsuits in its home state over a 2021 mass shooting in a Boulder, Colorado, supermarket, a Connecticut judge has ruled, citing the state's interest in policing harms its businesses may cause in other jurisdictions.

  • March 04, 2025

    CFPB Says Ga. Enforcement Atty 'No Longer Employed' There

    Another Consumer Financial Protection Bureau attorney, based out of the agency's Atlanta regional office, has left the bureau as it faces uncertainty under President Donald Trump's administration.

  • March 04, 2025

    DC Circ. Doubts FERC Was Wrong To OK Tennessee Pipeline

    The D.C. Circuit struggled to understand just where environmentalists think FERC messed up when approving a Tennessee pipeline project that would serve a gas-fired power plant that's set to replace a coal-fired one, expressing varying degrees of doubt Monday during arguments.

  • March 04, 2025

    Bored Ape NFT Maker, Crypto Co. Say SEC Threats Are Over

    The crypto arm of trading firm DRW Holdings LLC and the company behind the celebrity-endorsed non-fungible token project known as the Bored Ape Yacht Club say that they are the latest in a string of digital asset firms to see the back of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

  • March 04, 2025

    Special Master Recommends Win For UnitedHealth In FCA Suit

    A massive False Claims Act case targeting Medicare Advantage plans operated by UnitedHealth relies on "speculation and assumptions," according to a special master's report that recommends ruling in the company's favor and ending the lawsuit.

  • March 04, 2025

    3rd Circ. Says Pa. GOP Can't Challenge Biden's Voting Order

    The Third Circuit on Tuesday ruled that Republican lawmakers from Pennsylvania lack the standing to challenge former President Joe Biden's executive order expanding "get-out-the-vote" information, reasoning that the individual politicians could not bring a suit claiming an injury on behalf of the state Legislature.

Expert Analysis

  • Engaging With Feds On Threats To Executives, Employees

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    In an increasingly polarized environment, where companies face serious concerns about how to protect executives and employees, counsel should consider working with federal law enforcement soon after the discovery of threats or harassment, says Jordan Estes at Gibson Dunn.

  • The Risk And Reward Of Federal Approach To AI Regulation

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    The government has struggled to keep up with artificial intelligence's furious pace, but while an overbroad federal attempt to adopt a more unified approach to regulating AI poses its own risks, so does the current environment of regulatory uncertainty, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Losing A Motion To Dismiss Ruling Isn't Necessarily The End

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    A recent Delaware Court of Chancery ruling, that the Manti Group had not demonstrated any conflicts of interest favoring private equity fund operator The Carlyle Group, serves as an important reminder that a decision on a pleading motion is not the end of the story, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Anticipating Direction Of Cosmetics Regulation Under Trump

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    It is unclear how cosmetics regulation reform from the last few years will fare under President Donald Trump, but the new administration's emphasis on deregulation and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s views on product safety provide some insight, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Drug Pricing Policy Trends To Expect In 2025 And Beyond

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    Though 2025 may bring more of the same in the realm of drug pricing policy, business as usual entails a sustained, high level of legal and policy developments across at least six major areas, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Drug Cartels' Terrorist Label Raises Litigation Risk For Cos.

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    President Donald Trump's planned designation of some Latin American drug-trafficking groups as foreign terrorist organizations creates an additional and little-noticed source of legal exposure: U.S. civil litigation risk involving terrorism claims by victims of those groups, say attorneys at Covington.

  • IRS Basis-Shifting Rule Poses Notable Reporting Obligations

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    While the IRS’ recently finalized rule requiring partnerships to report certain related-party basis adjustment transactions is narrower than originally proposed, taxpayers and their advisers will still need to comb through myriad transactions to comply, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • How Cos. Can Prepare Now For SEC E-Filing System Changes

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's amendments to the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval system are designed to improve access to and management of EDGAR accounts, and with the March 24 effective date fast approaching, and the transition requiring significant coordination, companies should begin planning now, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • The Tides Are Changing For Fair Access Banking Laws

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    The landscape of fair access banking laws, which seek to prevent banks from denying services based on individuals' ideological beliefs, has shifted in the last few years, but a new presidential administration provides renewed momentum for advancing such legislation against the backdrop of state efforts, say attorneys at Latham.

  • Imagine The Possibilities Of Openly Autistic Lawyering

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    Andi Mazingo at Lumen Law, who was diagnosed with autism about midway through her career, discusses how the legal profession can create inclusive workplaces that empower openly autistic lawyers and enhance innovation, and how neurodivergent attorneys can navigate the challenges and opportunities that come with disclosing one’s diagnosis.

  • A Halftime Analysis Of DOJ's Compensation Pilot Program

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    The U.S. Department of Justice appears to consider the first half of its three-year pilot program on compensation incentives and clawbacks to be proceeding successfully, so companies should expect prosecutors to emphasize the program and other compliance-related considerations early in investigations, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Opinion

    How Congress Can Stem Consumer Finance Law Uncertainty

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    In the face of rising uncertainty about consumer finance laws that are based largely on fluctuating administrative rules, Congress should cement certain existing laws into statute and clarify federal agencies' delegations of authority, say attorneys at Bradley Arant.

  • Top 10 Healthcare And Life Sciences Issues To Watch In 2025

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    Under the new Trump administration, this coming year may benefit some healthcare and life sciences stakeholders, while creating new challenges for others amid an increasingly complex regulatory environment, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Birthright Order Denies 14th Amendment's Purpose, Origin

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    President Trump's executive order ending birthright citizenship invokes logic explicitly rejected by the framers of the 14th Amendment, demonstrating the administration's fundamental misunderstanding of the citizenship clauses' origins, jurisprudence, and impact on how Americans understand equality and national belonging, says Mauni Jalali at Quinn Emanuel.

  • A Look At Order Ending Federal Contractor Affirmative Action

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    To comply with President Donald Trump's executive order revoking affirmative action requirements in the next 90 days, federal contractors should focus on identification of protected groups, responsibilities of "diversity officer" positions and annual compliance reviews, says Jeremy Burkhart at Holland & Knight.

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