Squire Patton Boggs’ State Attorneys General Practice Group is comprised of lawyers who have served at senior levels in state AG offices around the country and whose practices focus, to one degree or another, on representing clients before these increasingly assertive and powerful, yet often overlooked, government agencies, as explained in detail here. In these updates, … Continue Reading
Executive Branch Activity New Guidance Clarifying Energy Executive Order Last week, just four days before federal agencies’ initial plans were due to OMB, the White House issued a memo updating with more specifics as to how President Trump expects agencies to carry out his previously issued energy executive order (Executive Order 13783, “Promoting Energy Independence and … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity This Week’s Hearings: On Wednesday, May 17, the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces has scheduled a hearing titled “Military Space Organization, Policy, and Programs.” On Wednesday, May 17, the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Airland has scheduled a hearing titled “United States Military Small Arms Requirements.” On Thursday, May 18, the … Continue Reading
Squire Patton Boggs’ State Attorneys General Practice Group is comprised of lawyers who have served at senior levels in state AG offices around the country and whose practices focus, to one degree or another, on representing clients before these increasingly assertive and powerful, yet often overlooked, government agencies, as explained in detail here. In these … Continue Reading
Executive Branch Activity Next OCS Developments Last Friday, President Trump signed an executive order (EO) directing the Department of the Interior to review and potentially rewrite the Obama Administration’s Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Final Program for the years 2017 to 2022 to include provisions for oil and gas development in the Arctic and … Continue Reading
Squire Patton Boggs’ State Attorneys General Practice Group is comprised of lawyers who have served at senior levels in state AG offices around the country and whose practices focus, to one degree or another, on representing clients before these increasingly assertive and powerful, yet often overlooked, government agencies, as explained in detail here. In these … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Democratic Senate Staff Report Examines Costs of Proposed Border Wall On Tuesday, April 18, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee minority staff released a report detailing the costs of the Trump Administration’s proposed concrete wall along the United States’ southern border. The report, which claims the wall could cost nearly $70 … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Hearing Examines Enforcement of US Immigration Law On Tuesday, March 28, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security held a hearing titled “Restoring Enforcement of our Nation’s Immigration Laws” that featured the following witnesses: The Honorable Thomas Hodgson, Sheriff, Bristol County, Massachusetts; Jessica Vaughn, Director of Policy Studies, Center for … Continue Reading
President Donald Trump will welcome Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and King Abdullah II of Jordan to the White House this week. He is expected to welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping to Mar-a-Lago later in the week. President Trump met last Thursday with Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen. According to the White House, the two … Continue Reading
Executive Branch Activity EPA, DOE, Interior, and Water 2018 Budgets Cut in President Trump’s Request to Congress EPA: President Donald Trump’s FY 2018 budget request, which was released last week, included a significant 31.4 percent decrease for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), from the current funding level of $8.2 billion to $5.7 billion. This represents the … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Administration Transmits FY 2017 Supplemental Funding Request to Congress This week, the Trump Administration provided Congress with its supplemental appropriations request for the remainder of FY 2017. The supplemental requests an additional $3 billion in funds for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including funds for US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) infrastructure and border … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity This Week’s Hearings: On Wednesday, March 15, the Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a hearing titled “Vows for Visas: Investigating K-1 Fiance Fraud.” On Wednesday, March 15, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has scheduled a business meeting to consider the nomination of the Honorable Elaine Duke to be Deputy Secretary, U.S. … Continue Reading
President Donald Trump focused last week on health care reform and the Fiscal Year 2018 Budget proposal, with the skinny budget proposal due to be released this week. President Trump spoke with President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority on Friday, President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya on Tuesday, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel … Continue Reading
Executive Action Waters of the US On Tuesday, February 28, President Donald Trump signed an executive order (EO) directing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to revise or rescind the Obama Administration’s controversial “waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS) rule which defines the scope of the federal government’s regulatory … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity This Week’s Hearings: On Tuesday, February 28, the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Communications has scheduled a hearing titled “The Future of FEMA: Recommendations of Former Administrators.” The witnesses will be announced. On Tuesday, February 28, the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence has scheduled a hearing … Continue Reading
Squire Patton Boggs’ State Attorneys General Practice Group is comprised of lawyers who have served at senior levels in state AG offices around the country and whose practices focus, to one degree or another, on representing clients before these increasingly assertive and powerful, yet often overlooked, government agencies, as explained in detail here. In these … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Lawmakers Unveil Report, Legislation to Strengthen U.S. Aviation Security On Monday, February 6, the majority staff of the House Homeland Security Committee released a report titled “America’s Airports: The Threat From Within.” The report recommends nine ways to assist airports, airlines, and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to address insider threats facing the … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity President Trump Orders Review of Financial Regulations Last Friday, February 3, President Trump issued an Executive Order related to financial services regulatory reform (generally) and an Executive Memorandum specifically targeting the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Fiduciary Rule. The Executive Order on Core Principles for Regulating the United States Financial System directs the Secretary … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity This Week’s Hearings: On Tuesday, February 7, the House Homeland Security Committee has scheduled a hearing titled “Ending the Crisis: America’s Borders and the Path to Security.” On Wednesday, February 8, the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support has scheduled a hearing titled “Current Readiness of U.S. Forces.” On Wednesday, … Continue Reading
The U.S. Congress is in session this week; the Senate is expected to vote on Mr. Rex Tillerson’s nomination to be Secretary of State. Nikki Haley was sworn in last week to be the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Gen. James Mattis was also sworn in as the next U.S. Secretary of Defense. Last … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Price Finance Confirmation Hearing Set for Tuesday Last week, Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) visited the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) for the first of two Senate confirmation hearings that resulted in the longest HELP confirmation hearing in over twenty years. The HELP hearing was heated, partisan, and merely a … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity National Defense Authorization Act Passes the House with Cyber Amendments Last week, the House passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY 2016 by a 269-151 vote. During the floor debate, a number of amendments related to cybersecurity were added to the bill. Rep. Mark Walker (R-NC) offered two amendments that both … Continue Reading
Executive Activity Fiscal Year 2016 Budget for EPA On Monday, February 2, President Obama will announce his Fiscal Year 2016 Budget request to Congress to fund the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). We expect a significant focus in the proposed budget on climate change and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. There is some concern that these … Continue Reading
Executive Activity President’s Task Force To Meet on Climate Change The President’s Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience will meet for the first time on Tuesday, December 10. The Task Force is composed of 26 state, local and tribal officials and is charged with identifying ways to prepare communities for the impact of climate … Continue Reading
