Public Policy

  • February 26, 2026

    Senator Moves To Dismantle Utah National Monument Plan

    A Utah senator has started the formal process of overturning a resource management plan designed to protect an Indigenous national monument by adding a Government Accountability Office opinion on the 1.9-million-acre site to the Congressional Record that could fast-track a vote on the controversial endeavor.

  • February 26, 2026

    Judge Unlikely To Lift Feds' Sanctions For Protester Removals

    A Massachusetts federal judge who ruled two Cabinet-level officials in the Trump administration targeted pro-Palestinian protesters for removal based on their speech appeared unmoved Thursday by the government's request to lift his sanctions while it appeals.

  • February 26, 2026

    Ga. House Speaker Beats Suit Over State Senator's Ban

    A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed against Georgia Speaker of the House Jon Burns by the constituents of a lawmaker who was barred from the chamber last January after calling Burns' predecessor "one of the most corrupt Georgia leaders we'll ever see in our lifetimes," finding they lack standing to sue.

  • February 26, 2026

    House Bill Would Cap FCC License Reviews At 180 Days

    A bipartisan U.S. House bill introduced Thursday would codify the Federal Communications Commission's standard 180-day limit on reviewing license applications, potentially speeding up merger reviews.

  • February 26, 2026

    IRS Broke Law 42K Times By Giving Info To ICE, Judge Says

    The federal judge who stopped the Internal Revenue Service from sharing taxpayer addresses with immigration authorities said Thursday that a recent admission by the agency showed that it broke the law more than 42,000 times last summer when it disclosed addresses by relying on a computerized matching system.

  • February 26, 2026

    VA Rescinds Veteran Disability Rating Rule After Pushback

    The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on Thursday moved to rescind a controversial rule that would have required evaluators to account for the effects of medication in assigning veterans' disability ratings, after facing strong opposition from veterans and lawmakers.

  • February 26, 2026

    DirecTV Urges Top FCC Officials To Nix Nexstar-Tegna Deal

    DirecTV went to the top ranks of the Federal Communications Commission in recent days to push against the proposed merger of TV station giants Nexstar and Tegna, calling it a clear threat to local media competition.

  • February 26, 2026

    Judge Scolds 'Impenetrable' TikTok In NY AG's Addiction Suit

    A New York state judge Thursday chided TikTok's attorneys for failing to search for financial and corporate records in the state's social media child addiction lawsuit, appearing poised to force TikTok companies to hand over more business data to calculate potential damages or disgorgement.

  • February 26, 2026

    Tenn. Health System Can't Dodge $28M False Claims Act Suit

    A Tennessee-based health system must face claims it allegedly ran a sprawling patient referral scheme by overcompensating doctors in exchange for Medicare patient referrals and then billed Medicare $28 million for services it offered those illegally referred patients, a Tennessee federal judge said Thursday, denying the health system's dismissal bid. 

  • February 26, 2026

    Judge Orders Dam Spill To Protect Columbia River Salmon

    An Oregon federal judge has ordered tailored changes to hydropower dam operations in the Columbia River Basin to protect endangered salmon and steelhead, saying that as a decades-long dispute continues, the guaranteed tribal treaty resource is "disappearing from the landscape."

  • February 26, 2026

    Hegseth Appeals Block On Sen. Kelly's Rank Reduction

    Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has appealed a district court order blocking him from reducing the U.S. Navy rank of Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., after the lawmaker told members of the military they don't have to follow unlawful orders. 

  • February 26, 2026

    FCC Denies Cos.' Bids To Scrap Regulatory Fee Late Charges

    The Federal Communications Commission is declining to waive the 25% penalty it slaps on top of regulatory fees from 2023 and 2024 that come in late, dashing the hopes of nearly two dozen companies that had asked the agency to do just that.

  • February 26, 2026

    India Looks To Nix $156M Deutsche Telekom Award Suit

    India is urging a D.C. federal court not to enforce a nearly $156 million arbitral award issued to Deutsche Telekom AG over a nixed satellite lease and telecommunications deal, arguing that it never agreed to arbitrate this type of dispute and that the deal was nixed over "essential security" issues.

  • February 26, 2026

    Feds Seek To Pause Fight Over Stopping Empire Wind Project

    The Trump administration has asked a D.C. federal judge to pause litigation challenging its stoppage of the Empire Wind offshore wind project, a move opposed by the project's developers, who previously persuaded the judge to lift the stoppage.

  • February 26, 2026

    NYC Officials Urge 2nd Circ. Not To Block Pot Enforcement

    New York City officials are asking the Second Circuit to deny a bid from two business owners to block enforcement of the city's cannabis laws against their club while they appeal a lower court decision, saying they don't have standing to seek the injunction.

  • February 26, 2026

    $200M Antitrust Deal Can Shield Drugmakers In States' Claims

    Sun Pharmaceutical and Taro Pharmaceuticals can use their $200 million settlement with the "end payors" for generic drugs in an alleged price-fixing scheme as a defense in a similar lawsuit brought by 47 states and territories, the Connecticut federal judge overseeing the case ruled Wednesday.

  • February 26, 2026

    NJ Judge Slams DHS For 'Reckless' Detention Practices

    A New Jersey federal judge ordered a Salvadoran's immediate release Thursday from immigration custody, saying the Trump administration's procedures for arrest and detention of noncitizens — while once potentially attributable to negligence — have entered the realm of "manifest recklessness."

  • February 26, 2026

    Hochul Taps Policy Director To Lead NY Cannabis Regulator

    New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday announced that the director of policy at the state's cannabis regulatory agency would take over the office's top leadership role.

  • February 26, 2026

    Senate Judiciary Advances Illinois US Atty

    The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the nomination of Gregory Gilmore to be U.S. attorney for the Central District of Illinois in a quick vote that passed without comment.

  • February 26, 2026

    Vanguard Will Pay $29.5M To Settle Red States' ESG Suit

    The Vanguard Group Inc. will pay $29.5 million to settle claims brought by several conservative states accusing it and other large asset managers of driving up coal prices by pressuring publicly traded energy companies to lower their output to meet carbon emission reduction goals.

  • February 26, 2026

    Feds Seek To Toss DOJ Official's Suit Over Epstein-Talk Firing

    The U.S. Department of Justice has asked a D.C. federal court to ax a wrongful termination lawsuit brought by a former DOJ official who was fired after he was surreptitiously filmed talking about Jeffrey Epstein on what he thought was a date, saying district courts don't have jurisdiction and the matter belongs in front of the Merit Systems Protection Board.

  • February 26, 2026

    Feds Ask For Early Win In Forest Service Timber Targets Suit

    The government is seeking summary judgment in a lawsuit alleging the U.S. Forest Service failed to consider emissions from its logging program's anticipated timber sales, telling a D.C. federal judge that the plaintiffs' claims are moot after the 2025 budget reconciliation bill set new goals directly.

  • February 26, 2026

    Hawaii Officials Fight Claim That Hemp Law Violates Farm Bill

    Hawaii's attorney general and health department director are urging a federal court to throw out a challenge to new hemp regulations, arguing that they have immunity under the 11th Amendment and that the regulations don't conflict with the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, also known as the Farm Bill.

  • February 26, 2026

    NLRB Readopts 2020 Joint Employer Rule In 'Ministerial' Move

    The National Labor Relations Board formally republished a 2020 rule on Thursday narrowing the circumstances in which it tags employers with liability to another firm's employees, in what it called a "ministerial" step to clarify its consistent policy.

  • February 26, 2026

    Former Prosecutors Slam Seizure Of Fulton County Ballots

    A bipartisan group of former federal prosecutors told a federal judge that the U.S. Department of Justice shouldn't have sought a search warrant to seize election materials from Georgia's Fulton County last month and that in doing so, the department failed its "essential role in our justice system."

Expert Analysis

  • What's At Stake In Possible Circuit Split On Medicaid Rule

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    A recent Eleventh Circuit decision, reviving Florida's lawsuit against a federal rule that reduces Medicaid funding based on agreements between hospitals, sets up a potential circuit split with the Fifth Circuit, with important ramifications for states looking to private administrators to run provider tax programs, say Liz Goodman, Karuna Seshasai and Rebecca Pitt at FTI Consulting.

  • How States Are Advancing Enviro Justice Policies

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    The federal pullback on environmental justice creates uncertainty and impedes cross‑jurisdictional coordination, but EJ diligence remains prudent risk management, with many states having developed and implemented statutes, screening tools, permitting standards and more, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • CFIUS Risk Lessons From Chips Biz Divestment Order

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    President Donald Trump's January executive order directing HieFo to unwind its 2024 acquisition of a semiconductor business with ties to China underscores that even modestly sized transactions can attract CFIUS interest if they could affect strategic areas prioritized by the U.S. government, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • What Applicants Can Expect From Calif. Crypto License Law

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    With the July effective date for California's Digital Financial Assets Law fast approaching, now is a critical time for companies to prepare for licensure, application and coverage compliance ahead of this significant regulatory milestone that will reshape how digital asset businesses operate in California, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • Elections Mean Time For Political Law Compliance Checkups

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    An active election year is the perfect time for in-house counsel to conduct a health check on their company's corporate political law compliance program to ensure it’s prepared to minimize risks related to electoral engagement, lobbying, pay-to-play laws and government ethics rules, say attorneys at Steptoe.

  • Next Steps For Fair Housing Enforcement As HUD Backs Out

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    A soon-to-be-finalized U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development rule, which would hand responsibility for determining disparate impact liability under the Fair Housing Act to the courts, reinforces the Trump administration’s wider rollback of fair lending enforcement, yet there are reasons to expect litigation challenging this change, say attorneys at Spencer Fane.

  • Malpractice Claim Assignability Continues To Divide Courts

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    Recent decisions from courts across the country demonstrate how different jurisdictions balance competing policy interests in determining whether legal malpractice claims can be assigned, providing a framework to identify when and how to challenge any attempted assignment, says Christopher Blazejewski at Sherin & Lodgen.

  • As Federal Enviro Justice Policy Goes Dormant, All Is Not Lost

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    Environmental justice is enduring a federal dormancy brought on by executive branch reversals and agency directives over the past year that have swept long-standing federal frameworks from the formal policy ledger, but the legal underpinnings of EJ have not vanished and remain important, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • What Clarity Act Delay Reveals About US Crypto Regulation

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    The Senate Banking Committee's decision to delay markup of the Clarity Act, which would establish a comprehensive federal framework for digital assets, illuminates the political and structural obstacles that shape U.S. crypto regulation, despite years of bipartisan calls for regulatory clarity, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.

  • Courts' Rare Quash Of DOJ Subpoenas Has Lessons For Cos.

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    In a rare move, three federal courts recently quashed or partially quashed expansive U.S. Department of Justice administrative subpoenas issued to providers of gender-affirming care, demonstrating that courts will scrutinize purpose, cabin statutory authority and acknowledge the profound privacy burdens of overbroad government demands for sensitive records, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • The Little Tucker Act's Big Class Action Moment

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    The Little Tucker Act, which allows claims against the government for illegally exacted fees, is transforming from a niche procedural mechanism into a powerful vehicle for class action litigation, with more than $500 billion in such fees — including President Donald Trump's tariffs — now ripe for challenge, says Dinis Cheian at Susman Godfrey.

  • Venezuela Legal Shifts May Create Investment Opportunities

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    Since the removal of President Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela has shown signs of economic liberalization, particularly in the oil and mining sectors, presenting unique — but still high-risk — investment opportunities for U.S. companies, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.

  • Unpacking Dormant Commerce Clause Cannabis Circuit Split

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    Federal courts have reached differing conclusions as to whether state-legal cannabis is subject to the dormant commerce clause, with four opinions across three circuit courts in the last year demonstrating the continued salience of the dormant commerce clause debate to the nation's cannabis industry, regulators and policymakers, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

  • Remote Patient Monitoring Is At Regulatory Inflection Point

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    With remote patient monitoring at the center of new federal pilot programs and a recent report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General examining Medicare billing for those services, it is clear that balancing innovation and risk will be a central challenge ahead for digital health stakeholders, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • How Latest Nasdaq Proposals Stand To Raise Listings Quality

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    Nasdaq's recent proposals stand to heighten both quantitative and qualitative standards for issuers, which, if approved, may bring investors stronger market integrity and access but also raise the listings bar, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

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