Public Policy

  • August 04, 2026

    Commerce Targets Dec. Restart For Digital Equity Grants

    The U.S. Department of Commerce should be ready to start accepting applications for the reinstated Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program, the Trump administration has told a D.C. federal judge after he struck down part of the law behind the grant as unconstitutional.

  • August 04, 2026

    Milwaukee Radio Licensee Resolves FCC Probe For $8K

    A Milwaukee radio station licensee reached a consent decree with the Federal Communications Commission for $8,000 to end an investigation into whether it failed to properly clear a transfer of control with the agency.

  • August 04, 2026

    CFTC's Selig Has Crypto Rules Ready Even If Clarity Bill Stalls

    U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Michael Selig on Tuesday said his agency has rule proposals "ready to go" if Congress passes its Clarity Act to regulate crypto markets, and it will move forward with those rulemakings whether the bill succeeds.

  • August 04, 2026

    Climate Crisis Costs Top $8B In Indian Country, Justices Told

    More than a dozen Indigenous nations, federal Indian law professors and tribal organizations are backing Boulder County, Colorado, in the Supreme Court, telling the justices that climate change has already caused roughly $8 billion in disruptions across Indian Country, yet the federal government provides only $400 million to mitigate them.

  • August 04, 2026

    NYC Retirees Ink $53M In Healthcare Copay Class Action

    New York City and EmblemHealth will pay $53 million to resolve a class action complaint covering more than 250,000 Medicare-eligible retirees who alleged the defendants illegally charged $15 copays onto their healthcare costs, according to a preliminary approval motion filed Friday in New York state court.

  • August 04, 2026

    Wash. State Says FCC's High-Cost Overhaul Plan Is Flawed

    Washington state officials are pushing back against some aspects of a plan being considered by the Federal Communications Commission to overhaul the program that helps fund broadband deployment to rural and other "high cost" areas.

  • August 04, 2026

    NC Judge Who Upheld Voter ID Law To Take Senior Status

    Judge Thomas Schroeder of the Middle District of North Carolina has informed the president he will take semi-retired status at a date later in the future.

  • August 04, 2026

    35 AGs Urge Congress Not To Delay Hemp Ban Rollout

    A bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general is urging Congress not to approve language in a pending continuing resolution that would delay the implementation of a ban on virtually all intoxicating hemp products for one month.

  • August 04, 2026

    Senate Reenacts Small Business, Consumer Debt Limit Hikes

    The U.S. Senate passed the Bankruptcy Threshold Adjustment Act of 2026 by unanimous consent, taking steps to make permanent the higher debt limits that apply to small business and consumer debtors first implemented during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • August 04, 2026

    Raskin Warns Of House Probe Into FCC Chief's ABC Actions

    Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin has signaled that congressional probes of the Federal Communications Commission could be on the way if the agency staff continues down a path of potentially revoking the licenses of eight Walt Disney Co.-owned ABC stations.

  • August 04, 2026

    Paramount CEO Says Warner Challenge Is About Politics

    Paramount Skydance Corp. CEO David Ellison said Tuesday that a challenge of the company's planned purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery from state enforcers is really about CNN and concerns that his politics could impact news coverage.

  • August 04, 2026

    Ex-Booz Allen Worker Says Sen. Scott's Tax Leak Claims Late

    A former employee of federal contractor Booz Allen Hamilton asked a Florida federal court to toss claims against him by Sen. Rick Scott over the leak of his personal tax returns, saying the suit was filed too late and in the wrong jurisdiction.

  • August 04, 2026

    MD Judge Blocks Ban On Voting Aid For New Citizens

    A Maryland federal judge has blocked a Trump administration policy preventing nonpartisan organizations from helping newly naturalized citizens register to vote at naturalization ceremonies.

  • August 04, 2026

    ABA Seeks Bar Exam Reform Following Tech Failures

    Over the course of its two-day annual meeting, the American Bar Association's policymaking body, the House of Delegates, approved measures to urge further bar exam oversight and backed measures to support law schools at accredited Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

  • August 04, 2026

    Union Sues Texas A&M Over Ban On Gender, Race Topics

    Texas A&M University is violating the U.S. Constitution by banning professors from teaching politically disfavored views on gender, race and sexuality, a professors' union argues in a new lawsuit, asking a Texas federal court to repeal the ban.

  • August 04, 2026

    FDIC Gives Green Light To 'AI-Native' Augustus National Bank

    A top U.S. banking agency said Tuesday that it has signed off on deposit insurance coverage for Augustus National Bank NA, advancing the newly chartered startup's plans to build out a full-service platform for crypto firms, high-net-worth clients and other players in the digital economy.

  • August 04, 2026

    Workers Say Trump's Gold Card Lets Rich Jump Visa Line

    Professional, skilled workers seeking employment-based visas urged a D.C. federal judge not to toss their lawsuit challenging the gold card visa program, arguing they will suffer injury because the expedited application allows wealthy individuals to skip ahead in line.

  • August 04, 2026

    Blanche Advances After GOP Sens. Win Written Assurances

    The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's nomination for the permanent position Tuesday, after Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, said they would support him.

  • August 04, 2026

    Fla. Homestead Exemption Ballot Question Must Be Changed

    The Florida attorney general has 10 days to submit a revised title and summary for a ballot question that proposes boosting the state's homestead tax exemption, after a state judge found the current language misleading and ordered a change.

  • August 04, 2026

    Ore. Court Tweaks Land, Building Values For $79M Complex

    The Oregon Tax Court refused to lower an apartment complex's $79 million valuation but agreed with the owner that the land component of the property was undervalued, adjusting the land and building values accordingly.

  • August 04, 2026

    TikTok Regulatory Chief Joins Pillsbury's New Tech Practice

    Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP announced that it has launched an emerging technology laws and litigation practice, adding TikTok's head of North America regulatory to serve as the practice's co-leader.

  • August 04, 2026

    Food Safety Group Says Tribe Needn't Join Fish Farm Suit

    The Center for Food Safety and Wild Fish Conservancy have urged a Washington federal judge to reject Pacific Seafood's argument that the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation must be joined in their Clean Water Act suit over three Columbia River fish farms.

  • August 04, 2026

    Corps, Enbridge Seek Win In Tribe's Line 5 Reroute Permit Suit

    The federal government and Enbridge Energy are looking to dismiss a challenge to a permit that allows 41 miles of pipeline to be rerouted around a Wisconsin tribe's lands, arguing that any attempts to find flaws in an environmental analysis for the plan are hasty and lack merit.

  • August 04, 2026

    1st Circ. Panel Splits Over Stay Of Somalia TPS Termination

    The First Circuit urged a Massachusetts federal district court to promptly adjudicate the Trump administration's bid to dissolve an administrative stay delaying its revocation of temporary protected status for Somalia, noting there's a new administrative stay replacing the one on appeal.

  • August 04, 2026

    Approach The Bench: Judge Rakoff Doesn't Hide His Views

    During his decades on the bench, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff has witnessed a slew of changes, particularly as technology has brought a rise in cybercrimes, as well as novel questions like whether AI-generated legal advice is privileged. But perhaps the biggest shift was in Rakoff's own views.

Expert Analysis

  • Fed Report Underscores Focus On Nonbank, CRE Risks

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    The Federal Reserve Board's latest supervision and regulation report highlights that broad systemic stability will not insulate individual institutions from rigorous supervisory challenges regarding concentrated commercial real estate portfolios and nonbank partnerships, says Daniel Meade at Hogan Lovells.

  • 3 Upcoming Deadlines That EB-5 Investors Should Consider

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    Potential EB-5 regional center investors should weigh three approaching deadlines, the most immediate of which is Sept. 30, that may affect their filing strategy, required capital commitment and ability to participate even if Congress fails to reauthorize the program, says Michael Ashoori at Ashoori Law.

  • CIPA Tech Tracking Suits Highlight Uncertain Legal Ground

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    Alexandra Samofalova at Spencer Fane discusses the state of California Invasion of Privacy Act website tracking litigation, why credible defendants choose to settle and how the businesses best positioned to face this uncertain legal landscape are the ones treating data practices as a legal compliance matter to address today.

  • AI, Prediction Markets Lead Securities Developments In 2026

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    Securities class actions tied to artificial intelligence and the battle over prediction market regulation both raise novel questions that courts are only beginning to address and that will continue to resonate throughout the second half of the year, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Why A Class Was Certified In Financial Aid Info-Sharing Case

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    The recent Illinois federal court decision in Corzo v. Brown University offers key guidance for defendants confronting class certification in antitrust matters, highlighting how typicality can be satisfied despite class members attending different universities, receiving different aid awards and being affected across different time periods, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • Key Compliance Insights From Calif.'s Volvo Diesel Deal

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    While the future of California's vehicle emissions standards under the Clean Air Act is uncertain, the state's recent settlement with Volvo over diesel emissions hinges on the truthfulness of manufacturer representations to state regulators, and offers important lessons for companies on compliance and recordkeeping, says Thierry Montoya at FBT Gibbons.

  • Community Bank Order Signals Fintech Partnership Scrutiny

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    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's recent consent order against Community Federal Savings Bank for deficiencies in its Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering compliance programs offers clear and urgent lessons for community banks pursuing revenue growth through fintech partnerships and payments services, say attorneys at Bradley.

  • House-Passed KIDS Act Spurs Child Data Practices Audit

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    Graham Dean, Brian Roper-Nelson and Will Quick at Brooks Pierce discuss the noteworthy sections of the U.S. House of Representatives' recently passed Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act, the potential revisions as the law moves through the U.S. Senate and the significant business changes that the House law would require.

  • Calif. Recycle Label Order Imperils Product Responsibility Law

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    A California federal court's injunction blocking enforcement of the state's truth-in-recycling law gives companies racing to remove chasing arrows and other recyclability labels from their packaging a reprieve — and the court's action may also hobble implementation of the state's extended producer responsibility law, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • FTC Focus: Enforcing Vertically Integrated Operating Systems

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    As digital platforms increasingly pair operating systems with commerce, advertising, content and data, antitrust scrutiny will turn on whether those integrations create private bottlenecks that foreclose rivals through access, ranking, interoperability or defaults, pushing courts and enforcement agencies to adapt traditional utility and merger frameworks more aggressively, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • Challenging Detention After 5th Circ. Ends Bond Clocks

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    After the vacatur of the Fifth Circuit’s holding that the U.S. Constitution requires bond hearings for detained noncriminal noncitizens, practitioners should go back to filing habeas petitions, pending the court's en banc rehearing, says Kemal Hepsen at Mandamus Lawyers.

  • Patent Eligibility Bulletin: New USPTO Guidance And AI Risks

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    In the second quarter of 2026, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office updated its subject matter eligibility declarations in line with its increasingly permissive patent eligibility stance, while the Federal Circuit rigorously applied the Alice framework in a decision that highlighted risks facing patent claims that utilize artificial intelligence and machine learning, say attorneys at Banner Witcoff.

  • A Shift In How Policymakers Are Approaching PBM Regulation

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    Recent federal and state legislative and regulatory activity involving pharmacy benefit managers represent a change in focus from transparency to PBM compensation structures, vertical integration and competitive effects, say attorneys at Barclay Damon.

  • Workplace Menopause Laws Demand New HR Playbooks

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    A recent wave of state and local legislation that makes menopause an expressly protected condition in the workplace creates new compliance obligations amid an already ambiguous federal framework, and demands a workplace culture where employees feel safe asking for support, says Elliot Griffin at Ballard Spahr.

  • How State Actions Are Reshaping Surveillance Pricing Risk

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    Amid heightened state enforcement activity and expanding legislative action to curb surveillance pricing concerns related to transparency, fairness and discrimination, businesses should closely examine how consumer data is used in pricing decisions, say attorneys at Steptoe.

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