In order to understand the context in which the current tax reform bill, H.R. 1, is being considered, it is important to know the meaning of two bits of Washington jargon: “budget reconciliation” and the “Byrd rule.” Though...more
We head into the last week of July with the Findings of the Senate Parliamentarian in hand, who ruled late Friday that several provisions in the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA) released on June 26th would be subject to...more
In Part V of our blog series, Very Opaque to Slightly Transparent: Shedding Light on the Future of Healthcare, we outlined some of the key provisions of the American Health Care Act (AHCA). Roughly two weeks after our post...more
Several federal contractors have been in the news recently for potentially engaging in prohibited lobbying activity. Both the Department of Justice and the Department of Defense Inspector General have been focusing on this...more
On August 21, 2015, the Justice Department announced that Sandia Corporation—owned by Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest defense contractor—agreed to pay $4,790,042 to settle allegations that it violated the Byrd Amendment...more
For the fourth time since the Upper Big Branch coal mine explosion in April 2010, a Congressional bill proposes to further amend the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977. The Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act...more
On October 6, 2014, the United States Supreme Court denied petitions for writs of certiorari filed by Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc. (Ashley) and Ethan Allen Global, Inc. (Ethan Allen) after the U.S. Court of Appeals for...more