Proof in Trial: Appellate Edition: Stand Up for California et al. v. U.S. Department of the Interior et al.
On July 3, 2025, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“Army Corps”), and the Departments of Energy (“DOE”), Interior (“DOI”), Transportation (“DOT”),...more
In the past two weeks, six federal permitting agencies — the U.S. Departments of Interior (USDOI), Agriculture (USDA), Energy (DOE), Commerce (DoC), Defense (DoD), and Transportation (USDOT) — withdrew most of their National...more
On June 12, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order titled “Empowering Commonsense Wildfire Prevention and Response” (EO) setting out new directives to reshape the federal government’s approach to wildfire...more
On March 20, 2025, the Trump administration invoked emergency powers in an Executive Order (EO) entitled Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production, aiming to accelerate domestic mineral mining and processing....more
On March 20, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14241 (EO), 90 Fed. Reg. 13673 (Mar. 25, 2025), aimed at promoting domestic mineral production for national security. The EO relies on authority under 3 U.S.C. § 301...more
The order aims to coordinate government efforts to fast-track permitting and accelerate funding to enhance critical minerals value chains from the mine to finished products....more
In a move designed to “facilitate domestic mineral production to the maximum possible extent,” on March 20, 2025, the Trump administration issued an executive order—titled “Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral...more
On March 17, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied a request from the Trump administration for an immediate administrative stay of a California district court order issued last week. The 9th Circuit’s order...more
In November, the federal government announced the expansion of its Procurement Collusion Strike Force with the addition of four new members — the offices of inspectors general at the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S....more
For the last few years, we have been closely monitoring and reporting on COVID-19 related fraud enforcement efforts by federal agencies. We detailed those findings in our Health Care Enforcement 2020 Year in Review & 2021...more
Critical minerals, which include rare earth minerals, are generally defined as minerals that are important to supply chains, but difficult to mine and ship due to scarcity, geopolitical issues, trade policy, or a combination...more
Outlook for This Week in the Nation’s Capital - Congress. The House and Senate are back in session this week. While both chambers have a number of items scheduled for action, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the US...more
Legislation Introduced In The Context Of Significant Federal Attention To Vulnerable Supply Chains, Including Critical Minerals And Materials - On January 14, 2022, Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ)...more
The Government Contracts and Global Trade Group is pleased to provide a summary of some of the key class deviations and other memoranda published by U.S. Government agencies implementing the federal contractor COVID-19...more
On May 25, 2021, the Biden Administration announced an agreement to lease almost 400 miles off California’s northern and central coasts for offshore wind development. The announcement expands on the recent approval of the...more
The Biden-Harris administration has set its sights on an ambitious environmental policy agenda, focusing on climate change and environmental justice as key initiatives, and intends to implement its agenda through an “all of...more
The EO directs federal agencies to invoke available emergency powers to expedite environmental review and permitting of infrastructure projects. A recent Executive Order by President Trump directs agencies to expedite...more
In late June, President Trump unveiled his administration’s plan to reorganize the federal government. The proposed shakeup is entitled “Delivering Government Solutions in the 21st Century: Reform Plan and Reorganization...more
Congress passed a $1.3 trillion spending bill early on March 23, 2018, narrowly averting a government shutdown. Following a 256-167 vote in the House and a 65-32 vote in the Senate, the FY 2018 (FY18) omnibus spending package...more
As happens on a regular political cycle, there are stories being published again with calls for USACE’s Civil Works mission to leave USACE and move to the U.S. Department of Transportation, or perhaps the Department of...more
President Donald Trump on February 12, 2018, submitted his budget request to Congress for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019. The President's full budget calls for approximately $4.4 trillion in total spending. Much of the budget seeks...more
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Office of Management and Budget(Administration) has posted the Fall 2017 Agency Statements of Regulatory Priorities, and what follows is a selection of future environmental...more
Senate Again Delays Action on Remaining Appropriations Bill: The Senate has yet to schedule any mark-ups for next week for its remaining four appropriations bills (Clark Hill Insight). Senate Reaches Deal on Budget...more
CBO Confirms Size of Breach of Defense Cap for FY18 Bills: The House FY18 Omnibus Appropriations Bill scheduled to be taken up in September would bust the Defense cap by $72 billion. This would cause the Office of Management...more
The Trump Administration on May 23, 2017, released a full budget blueprint for FY 2018, titled A New Foundation for American Greatness. The full FY 2018 budget proposal is based on the March 2017 "skinny" budget outline. The...more