Public Policy

  • April 30, 2026

    Feds Appeal Order Freezing CDC Childhood Vaccine Changes

    The Trump administration said late Wednesday that it's appealing a court order that stopped its pared-down childhood vaccine schedule from going into effect.

  • April 29, 2026

    DOGE Unmasking Order Won't Be Reconsidered, Judge Says

    A New York federal judge Wednesday refused to reconsider ordering Department of Government Efficiency agents to identify themselves in a lawsuit claiming DOGE unlawfully gained access to millions of federal employees' personal information, ruling that the government hasn't offered any new reason for her to rethink her opinion.

  • April 29, 2026

    Tech Group Aims To Halt Minn. Social Media Warning Mandate

    A Minnesota law that requires social media platforms to prominently display mental health warning labels to all users has become the target of the latest First Amendment challenge being pressed by tech trade group NetChoice, which argued in a lawsuit filed Wednesday that the state is using public health concerns to create an unlawful "backdoor" to regulate protected speech. 

  • April 29, 2026

    Judiciary Advisers Back Looser Limits On Defense Subpoenas

    A campaign by white collar defense lawyers against long-standing limits on subpoena powers cleared a key hurdle Wednesday when federal judiciary advisers endorsed earlier and easier access to potentially favorable evidence despite staunch resistance from crime victims' advocates.

  • April 29, 2026

    Youth Hockey Owners Deny Report Of Mich. Antitrust Probe

    A Florida-based organization that buys and operates youth hockey rinks nationwide denied knowledge of a reported Michigan state probe into whether that and similar groups are using anticompetitive behavior in purchasing the facilities.

  • April 29, 2026

    Bipartisan Bill Would Give Parents Control Over Kids' AI Use

    A group of Democratic and Republican senators introduced legislation that would allow parents to keep a better eye on their children's use of chatbots by requiring artificial intelligence companies to establish safeguards the lawmakers say will help protect kids' mental health and social development.

  • April 29, 2026

    Judge Slams $68M DOJ Deal As He Ends Colony Ridge Suit

    A Texas federal judge formally closed a Biden-era lawsuit alleging reverse redlining in a Houston-area development after the U.S. Department of Justice reached a $68 million deal that he says is untethered to the complaint and risks harm to the people claimed to be affected.

  • April 29, 2026

    FCC Looks To Update How It Collects Broadband Map Data

    The Federal Communications Commission has its eye on the National Broadband Map, with plans to vote next month on launching a proceeding to explore how to cut red tape from the data collection process while also increasing the accuracy of the data being collected.

  • April 29, 2026

    5th Circ. Skeptical Of Immigrants' Bond Eligibility Claim

    A Fifth Circuit panel pressed counsel for multiple detained immigrants to explain why people who crossed the border unlawfully should get access to a bond hearing, saying Wednesday that the law clearly states that an allegedly unauthorized immigrant "shall be detained pending removal proceedings."

  • April 29, 2026

    Hanes Must Face Email Suit After State Law Declared Legal

    Hanes can't get out of a lawsuit accusing it of sending marketing emails that make untrue claims by arguing that a Washington state law banning commercial emails with false or misleading subject lines is unconstitutional, a Washington federal judge has found.

  • April 29, 2026

    Mich. Justices Adopt Rule Banning ICE Civil Arrests In Court

    The Michigan Supreme Court Wednesday adopted a rule prohibiting civil arrests of those attending court proceedings or those who have legal business at the courthouse, which drew strong rebuke in a dissent describing the amendment as "a political statement as a solution in search of a problem."

  • April 29, 2026

    Feds Say Lack Of Injury Dooms Gold Card Program Challenge

    The Trump administration said a suit challenging the gold card visa program's legality must be thrown out because the immigrants and academic professionals union that filed it can't show the program hurts their chances at getting visas.

  • April 29, 2026

    High Court Seeks Path To Limited Ruling On 'Skinny Labels'

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared reluctant to craft new standards for deciding whether makers of generic drugs that use so-called skinny labels have encouraged others to infringe patents, with several justices saying existing law is sufficient to make a decision.

  • April 29, 2026

    FCC Pushed To Scale Back Radio Ownership Regs

    A broadcast company that helped persuade the Eighth Circuit to toss federal limits on local media ownership last year is now urging the Federal Communications Commission to pare back radio station limits.

  • April 29, 2026

    Feds Can't Hide Records Of FEMA Cuts, Judge Says

    The Trump administration tried to shield too many documents from public view in a lawsuit challenging its cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies, a California federal judge ruled, siding with a labor-led coalition in a dispute over the administration's motion for a protective order.

  • April 29, 2026

    Kennedy Center Director Says Safety Perils Warrant Overhaul

    The Kennedy Center's new director said he was "dumbfounded" when he first saw the true condition of the cultural hub's facilities, telling a D.C. federal court weighing whether to stop the center's planned two-year closure that now is the right time to catch up on a growing backlog of work.

  • April 29, 2026

    Burgum, Senate Dems Spar Over Energy Permitting Moves

    U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum on Wednesday blasted a federal court's recent pause of policies that imposed stricter reviews on wind and solar projects as Senate Democrats said such moves could kill the chances for significant permitting reform legislation.

  • April 29, 2026

    Consultant Says Venezuela Work Didn't Require FARA Filing

    The government did not prove that political consultant Esther Nuhfer was operating in bad faith when she worked with former Florida congressman David Rivera under a $50 million contract with a unit of Venezuela's state-owned oil company, Nuhfer's attorney said Wednesday in his final pitch to jurors.

  • April 29, 2026

    Comey Indictment Built On Bad Legal Foundation, Experts Say

    The criminal indictment of former FBI Director James B. Comey over an alleged threat against President Donald Trump by way of a social media post of seashells appears to be based on either an outdated or flawed understanding of the legal standard required to prove the charges in the case, which could sink the prosecution, according to experts.

  • April 29, 2026

    Squires Snubs 10 IPRs While 4 Pass Muster In Latest Order

    U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires rejected 10 petitions for America Invents Act patent reviews and granted four challenges in an order marking the roughly half-year mark since he took over the duty of making institution decisions.

  • April 29, 2026

    US Lawmakers Back Bid To Win Trump Park Pass Suit

    A coalition of Democratic congressional lawmakers are looking to back a conservation group's summary judgment bid in its challenge to the U.S. Department of Interior's decision to put President Donald Trump's image on this year's America the Beautiful Annual Pass.

  • April 29, 2026

    Sauer Urges Justices To Ignore Alleged Bias In TPS Case

    U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday that courts shouldn't, as a matter of foreign policy, consider President Donald Trump's disparaging comments about Haitians in reviewing rescissions of temporary protected status for Haiti and Syria.

  • April 29, 2026

    Fla. Judge Pick Denies Conflict In Trump Defamation Case

    A judicial nominee for the Southern District of Florida on Wednesday denied there was any overlap between when he presided over a case involving President Donald Trump and when the White House let him know Trump was considering him for the federal judgeship.

  • April 29, 2026

    Squires Says Samsung's ITC Stipulation Can't Save Its IPRs

    U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires said he denied Samsung's challenges to a Netlist memory module patent in light of a similar legal fight at the U.S. International Trade Commission and the timing of final decisions in both forums.

  • April 29, 2026

    Powell Says He'll Stay On Fed Board After Time As Chair Ends

    Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday that he won't immediately leave the central bank once his term ends next month and plans instead to remain on its board temporarily, pointing to the Trump administration's recent "legal attacks" on the institution.

Expert Analysis

  • How Leveraged Lending Pivot May Alter Bank Risk Oversight

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    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's recent withdrawal of leveraged lending guidance introduces several principles that may allow banks to better apply enterprisewide risk management programs and potentially create additional competition in the private credit loan market, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

  • Pros And Cons Of FDA's Push For Nonprescription Drugs

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    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's recent moves to shift more prescription drugs to over-the-counter status could increase access to important medications, but also bring potential safety risks and other trade-offs for drug companies, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

  • Why SDNY May Be Dusting Off The Financial Kingpin Statute

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    The Southern District of New York’s recent fraud indictments against executives of bankrupt companies Tricolor and First Brands have seemingly revived the Continuing Financial Crimes Enterprise statute, and if the cases succeed, prosecutors across the country will have ample reason to reach for this long-dormant tool, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.

  • What's Changed In Army Corps' Reissued Nationwide Permits

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    The final rule recently issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, renewing and revising nationwide permits for projects covered by Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, makes measured adjustments rather than sweeping revisions, addressing key operational and compliance concerns while maintaining the existing framework, say attorneys at Spencer Fane.

  • What Kalshi Cases Reveal About State Authority, Regulation

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    Prediction markets like Kalshi have ignited complex legal battles that get to the heart of how novel financial products intersect with traditional state enforcement authority, and courts are already beginning to divide over whether federal law preempts state enforcement authority restricting these offerings, say attorneys at Holtzman Vogel.

  • Parsing Clarifications On Foreign Entity Rules For Tax Credits

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    Recent U.S. Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department guidance answers taxpayer questions on several key foreign entity rules under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, but questions remain over transactions with companies that have ties to covered nations such as Iran, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • What US Arms Sales Reforms Mean For Defense Industry

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    A recent executive order with the goal of increasing U.S. arms sales transparency, speed and government-industry collaboration carries both promise and risk for the defense industry as the government seeks to leverage the private sector and use commercial products for defense purposes, say attorneys at Fluet.

  • Prepping For The Future Of No Surprises Act Enforcement

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    This year is expected to be a transition point for the No Surprises Act framework from regulatory delay to operational enforcement, so stakeholders should use this time to stress-test systems, clean up processes and prepare for enforcement, say attorneys at Akerman.

  • A Tale Of 2 Self-Disclosure Policies: How SDNY, DOJ Differ

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    Though the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York’s recently announced corporate enforcement and voluntary self-disclosure policy shares many similarities with that of the U.S. Department of Justice, the two programs differ in meaningful ways, including subject matter scope and timeline to declination, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • Aligning Microsoft Tools With NYC Bar AI Recording Guidance

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    The New York City Bar Association’s recently issued formal opinion, providing ethical guidance on artificial intelligence-assisted recording, transcription and summarization, raises immediate questions about data governance and e-discovery for companies that use Microsoft 365 and Copilot, say Staci Kaliner, Martin Tully and John Collins at Redgrave.

  • What Employers Should Know About Calif. PAGA Proposal

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    Recently proposed regulations concerning the Private Attorneys General Act evidence an intent by California's Labor and Workforce Development Agency to play a greater role in the prosecution of PAGA actions, including more oversight over the exhaustion notices and settlement process, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

  • FTC Focus: Antitrust Spotlight On 'Acqui-Hires,' Noncompetes

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    A recent Federal Trade Commission focus on labor issues, like 'acqui-hire' deals, in which only a company's workforce is acquired, and noncompetes, shows that the agency is scrutinizing these issues on a case-by-case basis, necessitating a meaningful look at these transactions, particularly in the technology and artificial intelligence industries, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • FDA's Biosimilarity Guidance Holds Uncertain Implications

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    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's new draft guidance aimed at simplifying the biosimilarity demonstration process may not be enough to overcome the barriers that have historically constrained biosimilar competition, and could affect biosimilar access in unexpected ways, say analysts at Analysis Group.

  • Unpacking Key Themes From NY's New Healthcare Strategy

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    New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's 2026 State of the State agenda, read together with the state's fiscal year 2027 executive budget, reflect a clear framework to utilize Medicaid as the state's operating platform for healthcare reform, say attorneys at Sheppard.

  • A Single DOJ Corporate Enforcement Policy Raises Questions

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's soon-to-be-released uniform corporate criminal enforcement policy could address the challenges raised by the current decentralized approach, but it will need to answer a number of potential questions amid scant details, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

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