Public Policy

June 09, 2025
Bedoya Exits FTC, But Keeps Up Legal Fight Against Trump

Alvaro M. Bedoya, one of two Democratic Federal Trade Commission members fired by President Donald Trump, gave notice Monday of his formal resignation in order to pursue other work, but emphasized that he is not dropping his lawsuit against the president.
June 09, 2025
Squires Dodges Trump Questions, Emphasizes AI For Backlog

The Trump administration's nominee for U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director avoided answering whether Joe Biden won the 2020 election, how to describe defendants in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and whether he would follow an illegal directive from the president, along with addressing concerns about USPTO resources and artificial intelligence in post-hearing responses to senators.
June 09, 2025
Judge Rebukes Navy Vet's Counsel In VA Malpractice Trial

A Washington federal judge narrowed the scope of a Navy veteran's medical malpractice case against the federal government on Monday, chiding her counsel for trying to change a years-old expert opinion on the eve of a long-awaited bench trial and "wasting" time on unnecessary questioning.
June 09, 2025
OCC Rebuffs State Bankers' Call To Rescind Preemption Rules

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said Monday that it is standing by its regulations that purport to exempt banks it oversees from a swath of state-law limitations, swatting down a request from state regulators that want these rules overturned.
June 09, 2025
Unions Win Injunction In OPM, DOGE Privacy Suit

A New York federal judge on Monday granted a preliminary injunction bid against the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in a lawsuit accusing it of unlawfully disclosing employees' personal information to the Department of Government Efficiency, saying OPM granted broad access to the information despite there being no "credible need."
June 09, 2025
Trump Executive Order Revamps US Cybersecurity Policy

President Donald Trump has moved to "reprioritize" the nation's cybersecurity efforts by issuing an executive order scrapping the provisions of prior directives issued by the past two Democratic administrations while focusing on measures such as mandating more secure software development and the latest encryption protocols.
June 09, 2025
Newsom Sues Trump Over 'Illegal' National Guard Deployment

California Gov. Gavin Newsom sued President Donald Trump on Monday over the administration's "illegal" takeover of the state's National Guard unit in response to protests in Los Angeles sparked by federal immigration raids, saying the move exceeded "the bounds of lawful executive authority."
June 09, 2025
SEC's Atkins Floats 'Innovation Exemption' For Crypto

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins said Monday that he's directed agency staff to mull rulemaking that would protect developers of decentralized finance platforms and enable registered firms to interact with their "DeFi" systems, including through a potential "innovation exemption" framework.
June 09, 2025
Colo. Justices Spell Out Burden Of Proof For Gov't Immunity

The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday articulated for the first time the burden of proof required in tort cases against public entities, ruling that a woman's slip-and-fall claims failed to eclipse Jefferson County's immunity under a state law.
June 09, 2025
CFPB Will Move Ahead With Rest Of Calif. Debt Relief Suit

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau told a California federal court on Monday that its new Trump-appointed leadership has decided to proceed with a debt relief services enforcement lawsuit that was paused after control of the agency changed hands in February.
June 09, 2025
Treasury Warns Of Iranian 'Shadow Banking,' Oil Smuggling

The Treasury Department has laid out red flags that financial institutions should monitor for identifying and reporting possible sanctions evasion schemes and other suspicious activity tied to the Islamic Republic of Iran, including illicit oil smuggling and the use of "shadow banking" networks.
June 09, 2025
Florida Will Ask 11th Circ. To Revive Trans Health Suit

The state of Florida indicated Friday it will ask the Eleventh Circuit to reopen its lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services challenging a rule setting coverage requirements on employers for gender-affirming care, despite the new administration's reversal on the rule.
June 09, 2025
Nev. Dem Threatens To Block Commerce Picks Over BEAD

A Nevada senator derided the U.S. Department of Commerce's overhaul of the government's $42.5 billion broadband deployment program and threatened to put a Senate hold on some of President Donald Trump's agency nominees until her state's federal funding is restored.
June 09, 2025
COVID Funds Bribery Scheme Gets Ex-Calif. Official 5 Years

A former member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors was sentenced to five years in prison Monday in California federal court after admitting to steering $10 million worth of COVID-19 relief funds to a nonprofit linked to his daughter, in return for more than $500,000 in bribes.
June 09, 2025
EchoStar Questions FCC Process In SpaceX, VTel Fight

EchoStar said the Federal Communications Commission should not be "pulling the rug out from" under it as it fights to keep the spectrum rights it got from T-Mobile, arguing that it was being unfairly singled out by SpaceX and VTel, who want the commission to review the buildout of Dish's network.
June 09, 2025
RFK Jr. Fires CDC's Entire 17-Member Vaccine Advisory Panel

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Monday that Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. removed every member of the committee that provides advice and guidance on the use of vaccines to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pledging to replace them with his preferred picks.
June 09, 2025
Fed. Circ. Weighs AI Co.'s Standing In Fight With Intel Agency

Federal Circuit judges grappled Monday with how to define exactly who could challenge the administration of federal contracts, in an en banc hearing of Percipient.ai's suit accusing the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency of bypassing certain requirements in a 2021 contract with CACI.
June 09, 2025
Enviro Groups, Tribes Can Intervene In Coal Leasing Ban Row

A Wyoming federal judge allowed a coalition of tribes and environmental groups to intervene in a challenge to the Biden administration's 2024 decision ending new coal leasing on public lands in the Powder River Basin, citing the groups' participation in prior suits over leasing at the site.
June 09, 2025
Carebourn Opposes SEC's Bid To Remand 'Dealer' Case

Financial firm Carebourn Capital LP on Monday urged the Eighth Circuit to reject the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's bid to remand a $12 million unregistered dealer judgment the agency won, arguing the SEC is trying to skirt the case's liability issues.
June 09, 2025
2nd Circ. Weighs Menendez Bail Bid Over Evidence Mishap

The Second Circuit questioned Monday whether providing excluded evidence to the jury in former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez's bribery trial is the type of error that can justify bail pending appeal.
June 09, 2025
Trump Orders Targeting DEI, LGBTQ+ Funding Partly Blocked

A California federal judge Monday blocked portions of President Donald Trump's executive orders targeting diversity and inclusion policies and programs serving the LGBTQ+ community, saying a group of nonprofits is likely to succeed in showing that stripping their federal funding violates their constitutional rights.
June 09, 2025
DOJ's KKR Suit Turning M&A 'Into A Trap,' PE Group Says

A private equity trade group is seeking to back KKR's bid to dismiss a Justice Department lawsuit seeking fines that could top $650 million for allegedly hiding key documentation and entire transactions from merger notification, arguing that enforcers are trying to create a brand new requirement for "perfect" filings.
June 09, 2025
Okla. Says High Court Shouldn't Skip 10th Circ. PBM Ruling

Oklahoma told the U.S. Supreme Court the federal government wrongly suggested that the justices bypass the state's challenge to a Tenth Circuit decision nullifying parts of a state law regulating pharmacy benefit managers, arguing Monday that the solicitor general doesn't recognize the magnitude of the issue.
June 09, 2025
Senate Confirms Brett Shumate To Head DOJ Civil Division

The Senate voted 51-41 along party lines on Monday evening to confirm Brett Shumate to be assistant attorney general for the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
June 09, 2025
Veteran Appeals VA Discontinuation Of Trans Health Coverage

A transgender woman urged a veterans appeals court Monday to find that the Veterans Health Administration is wrongly refusing to refill her prescriptions for hormone therapy following a federal notice discontinuing gender-affirming care for veterans.

Editor's Picks

Trump's Legal Battles

States, federal employee unions, various advocacy groups and several individuals have filed over 220 lawsuits challenging the Trump administration's implementation of executive orders and other initiatives. Law360 has created a database of those lawsuits, separated into categories based on their subject matter.

Expert Analysis

Max Pressure On Iran May Raise Secondary Sanctions Risk

New sanctions designations announced June 6 are the latest in a slew of actions the administration has taken to put pressure on Iran’s military programs and petroleum exports that will likely increase non-U.S. businesses’ secondary sanctions risk, says John Sandage at Berliner Corcoran.
Platforms Face Liability Shift Under Anti-Revenge Porn Law

The federal Take It Down Act, signed into law last month, aims to combat deepfake pornography with criminal penalties for individual wrongdoers, but the notice and takedown provisions change the broad protections provided by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in ways that directly affect platform providers, say attorneys at Troutman.
4 Midyear Employer Actions To Reinforce Compliance

The legal and political landscape surrounding what the government describes as unlawful diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives has become increasingly complex over the past six months, and the midyear juncture presents a strategic opportunity to reinforce commitments to legal integrity, workplace equity and long-term operational resilience, say attorneys at Krevolin & Horst.
CFPB's Guidance Withdrawal Deepens Industry Uncertainty

Following the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent withdrawal of dozens of guidance documents in a post-Chevron world, financial services providers are left to make their own determinations about the complex issues addressed in the now-revoked materials, presenting a significant compliance burden, say attorneys at Bradley Arant.
Justices Widen Gap Between Federal, Calif. Enviro Reviews

While the U.S. Supreme Court's recent opinion in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado, narrowed the scope of National Environmental Policy Act reviews, it may have broadened the gulf between reviews conducted under NEPA and those under the California Environmental Quality Act, say attorneys at Hanson Bridgett.
In 2nd Place, Va. 'Rocket Docket' Remains Old Reliable

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia was again one of the fastest civil trial courts in the nation last year, and an interview with the court’s newest judge provides insights into why it continues to soar, says Robert Tata at Hunton.
SEC Signals Opening For Private Fund Investment Reform

At SEC Speaks in late May, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission made clear that it's considering allowing registered funds of private funds to be offered broadly to true retail investors, meaning existing funds should review their disclosures focusing on conflicts of interest, liquidity and fees, say attorneys at Stradley Ronon.
CIPA May Not Be Necessary To Protect Ad Tech Plaintiffs

A California bill designed to protect businesses from advertising technology claims under the California Invasion of Privacy Act by amending the act retroactively has been highly contested by various consumer advocacy groups, but other existing law may sufficiently protect any plaintiff who suffers actual harm from such tech, says Justin Donoho at Duane Morris.
Parsing A Lack Of Antitrust Info-Sharing Enforcement Clarity

Information sharing among competing firms has recently faced dramatic changes in antitrust agency guidance, while courts grapple with the permissible scope of pricing algorithms, leaving companies in limbo, but potential Trump administration changes could offer some reprieve, say attorneys at Axinn.
What FCA Liability Looks Like In The Cybersecurity Realm

Two recent settlements highlight how whistleblowers and the U.S. Department of Justice have been utilizing the False Claims Act to allege fraud predicated on violations of cybersecurity standards — timely lessons given new bipartisan legislation introducing potential FCA liability for artificial intelligence use, say attorneys Rachel Rose and Julie Bracker.
'A Deal Is A Deal': Tariffs No Excuse To Dodge Contract Terms

Tariff policy uncertainty is unlikely to be a basis for allowing a party to avoid contractual obligations, but businesses can still plan for future disputes related to pricing, operations and the supply chain, including with the addition of tariffs to any force majeure provision, say attorneys at Arnold Porter.
Proposed State AI Rule Ban Could Alter Employer Compliance

A proposal in the congressional budget bill that would ban state and local enforcement of laws and regulations governing artificial intelligence may offer near-term clarity by freezing conflicting rules, but long-term planning would remain difficult for employers seeking safe, lawful AI deployment strategies, say attorneys at Fisher Phillips.
Operating Via Bank Charter Offers Perks Amid Industry Shift

As bank regulators become more receptive to streamlining barriers that have historically stood in the way of de novo bank formation, and as fintechs show more interest in chartering, attorneys at Goodwin outline the types of charters available and their benefits.
How Attorneys Can Become Change Agents For Racial Equity

As the administration targets diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and law firms consider pulling back from their programs, lawyers who care about racial equity and justice can employ four strategies to create microspaces of justice, which can then be parlayed into drivers of transformational change, says Susan Sturm at Columbia Law School.
5 Takeaways From DOJ's Media Compulsory Process Rules

The U.S. Department of Justice’s new rules, making it easier for law enforcement investigating leaks to compel members of the media and third parties to disclose information, could have wide-ranging impacts, from reduced protections for journalists and organizations, to an expanded focus on nonclassified material, say attorneys at WilmerHale.