The Big Picture -
Congressional Overview -
American voters delivered a decidedly mixed message to Washington on Tuesday, seemingly handing Republicans narrow control of the U.S. House of Representatives and a nominal check...more
11/14/2022
/ Affordable Care Act ,
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Biden Administration ,
Carbon Capture and Sequestration ,
Clean Energy ,
Climate Change ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Healthcare ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) ,
Lame Duck Session ,
NDAA ,
Offshore Wind ,
Oil & Gas ,
PFAS ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Roe v Wade ,
Russia ,
Supply Chain ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
The February 2021 hack into Oldsmar, Florida’s water treatment system is a frightening reminder that critical infrastructure systems can be vulnerable to cyberattacks and that cyberattacks can jeopardize health and safety. In...more
4/26/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Pilot Programs ,
Hackers ,
Homeland Security Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) ,
Infrastructure ,
National Security ,
OMB ,
Power Grid
After months of stalled negotiations, Congress has passed sweeping new COVID-19 relief legislation that, among other things, revitalizes and revises the Paycheck Protection Program. The new legislation reopens the program to...more
FIRST 100 DAYS -
As President-elect Biden stands poised to assume the office he has aspired to for the past three decades, he inherits a national crisis not unlike the one he stepped into as vice president nearly 12 years...more
11/17/2020
/ Air Quality Standards ,
Biden Administration ,
China ,
Clean Power Plan ,
Clean Water Act ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) ,
Continuing Resolution ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cross-State Air Pollution ,
Economic Stimulus ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
EU ,
Federal Budget ,
Fracking ,
Immigration Reform ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
NATO ,
NEPA ,
Oil & Gas ,
Paris Agreement ,
Popular ,
Renewable Energy ,
Tariffs ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Trade Policy ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
Voting Rights Act ,
World Health Organization
As Congress scrambles to craft the next phase of COVID-19 stimulus and relief legislation, both sides of the aisle appear to be in agreement on expanding the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to include more funds for small...more
On June 22, 2020, President Donald Trump issued a proclamation extending and expanding existing restrictions on visas to enter the U.S. The White House also released a factsheet in connection with the proclamation, and that...more
6/25/2020
/ Chamber of Commerce ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
H-1B ,
H-2B ,
Immigration ,
Immigration Procedures ,
J-1 Visas ,
L-1 Visas ,
Presidential Proclamations ,
Trump Administration ,
Visas
The Small Business Administration has clarified through newly-issued guidance that employees of foreign affiliates must be counted when determining the size of a business for eligibility under the Paycheck Protection Program....more
5/7/2020
/ Borrowers ,
CARES Act ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
IRS ,
Loan Forgiveness ,
Non-Profit Hospitals ,
Nonprofits ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Safe Harbors ,
SBA ,
Small Business
As the nation scrambles to take advantage of the $2 trillion stimulus benefits in the CARES Act, numerous sources have stated that only businesses with 500 or fewer employees are eligible to apply for loans under the Act’s...more
On March 6, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers announced that the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has designated a new deputy chief to lead the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”) unit and that...more
In the first part of this three part series we considered the impact of President Trump’s decision to re-impose sanctions on Iran’s energy sector with effect from 5 November 2018.
However, Iran is not unique. Other nations...more
2018 MIDTERMS: The Power of Women, Possibility, and Partisan Rancor -
The 2018 midterm elections showcased the power of women, both as candidates and as a key voting demographic. The elections represented a new political...more
11/9/2018
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Attorney General ,
Climate Change ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
FERC ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Infrastructure ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Political Appointments ,
Political Candidates ,
Popular ,
Power Grid ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Renewable Energy ,
State and Local Government ,
State Elections ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Trump Administration ,
Ways and Means Committee
Economic sanctions, in one form or another, have been applied for centuries to effect change in the activities or policies of states, groups or individuals. Sometimes they are perceived as geopolitical economic weaponry,...more
10/26/2018
/ Economic Sanctions ,
Energy Sector ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Implementation Day ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Popular ,
Trump Administration ,
UK ,
Withdrawal
Last week, the Senate followed the House of Representatives in passing the John McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (the “NDAA”), which President Trump is expected to sign into law very soon. The...more
8/7/2018
/ Amended Rules ,
CFIUS ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Federal Contractors ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Acquisitions ,
Foreign Investment ,
Legislative Agendas ,
National Security ,
NDAA ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Trump Administration
Last week, the Trump Administration took initial action toward Dodd-Frank reform. President Trump signed two Presidential actions—one Executive Order regarding the Dodd-Frank Act more broadly, and one Presidential Memorandum...more
The 2016 election results have significant implications for companies across a wide range of industry sectors. From environmental policy to financial services to tax reform, President-elect Trump has committed to sweeping...more
11/14/2016
/ Anti-Dumping Duty ,
Barack Obama ,
Budget Reconciliation ,
Clean Energy ,
Clean Power Plan ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Countervailing Duties ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Farms ,
Federal Budget ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Fracking ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
International Tax Issues ,
Investment Tax Credits ,
Keystone XL Pipeline ,
Methane ,
NAFTA ,
Oil & Gas ,
Paris Agreement ,
Pipelines ,
Presidential Elections ,
Production Tax Credit ,
Renewable Energy ,
Repatriation ,
Repeal ,
Shale Gas ,
Tax Reform ,
Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act ,
Trans-Pacific Partnership ,
Transportation Industry ,
Trump Administration
This Saturday, January 16, 2016, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) certified that Iran satisfied their obligations under their nuclear-related interim obligations under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action...more
1/20/2016
/ Economic Sanctions ,
Embargo ,
EU ,
Implementation Day ,
International Atomic Energy Agency ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Non-US Entities ,
Nuclear Power ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
SDN List
In September of 2014, new foreign investment reporting requirements from the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) became effective. The new regulations require the BEA to collect data on the acquisition...more
The 2014 Midterm Elections have taken place and Republicans performed extremely well in all categories – winning key gubernatorial and congressional races – in what many are viewing as a "wave election."
In the...more