Good Afternoon! It’s been a busy couple of weeks in the orbit of Washington. President Trump nominated a new NASA Administrator, and the “Big Beautiful Bill” gave Space Force a big budget bump. Meanwhile, scientists and the...more
President Donald Trump on July 4, 2025, signed into law the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), sweeping legislation that has direct impacts on the future of the CFPB. The final bill reduces the CFPB's operating budget from 12...more
The National Taxpayer Advocate has released her Fiscal Year 2026 Objectives Report to Congress, a statutorily-required annual report outlining the objectives of the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate for the upcoming fiscal...more
The budget bill signed by President Trump on July 4 will make massive cuts to the CFPB’s budget. The huge bill changes the amount that the CFPB may receive from the Federal Reserve from a maximum of 12% of the Fed’s...more
Gov. JB Pritzker taps Christian Mitchell as lieutenant governor pick in campaign for third term - “Christian Mitchell, a former South Side state representative and deputy governor-turned-University of Chicago executive,...more
The independent Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the Federal Reserve System (FRS) and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is investigating the bureau’s workforce reductions and its canceled contracts, according...more
Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled that the Trump Administration and congressional Republicans cannot use the pending budget reconciliation bill to eliminate funding to the CFPB in a June 23, 2025,...more
On June 5, 2025, Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer testified before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce regarding the Trump administration’s proposed fiscal year 2026 budget....more
President Trump’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 includes substantial reductions to the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) budget and staff. The proposed discretionary budget is slashed from $13.5 billion to $9...more
The President’s Budget Request Impact on Programs for the Disabled and Older Americans Act Programs - This is part three of a series on health care budget cuts....more
The Trump Administration’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposal includes big cuts for OSHA. The Fiscal Year 2026 Congressional Budget Justification is available...more
New U.S. solar capacity will be more than 10% lower in 2030 than in 2025, according to a forecast by the Solar Energy Industries Association and energy research firm Wood Mackenzie. The outlook includes the expected effects...more
This is part two of a series on health care budget cuts. The President’s Budget Requests Dramatically Reduce Biomedical Research - The president’s budget request was a major disappointment to those interested in...more
This is part one of a series on health care budget cuts. The Trump administration sent its budget – essentially its appropriation request to the Hill. While such a budget represents the administration’s wish list, in...more
Amidst ongoing transitions—with the Board operating with a quorum and the President’s nominee for General Counsel pending Senate confirmation—the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) released its Fiscal Year...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) budget proposal for fiscal year (FY) 2026 fundamentally reimagines the federal government's role in environmental policy and regulation. If enacted by Congress, EPA's budget...more
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed an extensive budget reconciliation bill that would reduce the CFPB budget by 70 percent. In a 215-214 vote along party lines, the budget cut first approved by the House Committee...more
Federal Funding Uncertainties Send PA Budget Talks into Limbo - State lawmakers are struggling to agree on funding priorities in time to meet the budget deadline of June 30 as federal uncertainties in transit, education, and...more
With federal budget cuts to Medicaid and other social service programs looming, increased attention is being placed on home and community-based (“HCBS”) Medicaid benefits. A recent opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times...more
Enacted in August 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act (the “IRA”) expanded energy tax credits by increasing credit amounts across the board and broadening eligibility criteria to include new technologies....more
The huge FY26 budget reconciliation bill, H.R. 1, dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” contains provisions that would slash CFPB spending....more
The White House Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) sent President Trump’s recommendations for the fiscal year 2026 budget to the Senate Appropriations Committee on May 2, 2025. The proposal includes significant cuts to...more
On May 2, 2025, the White House released President Trump’s recommendations for discretionary funding in 2026. These recommendations would result in “significant savings” and budget cuts to several healthcare programs. The May...more
A May 2 report from the US Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) found that as of March, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) workforce had fallen by 11,443 employees, or 11%, due to probationary employee...more
When it comes to changes roiling the federally supported research landscape, April offered no letup from the first three months of the year; if anything, the pace and magnitude increased. In one instance, an agency—the HHS...more