Education Provisions in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act
On June 25, 2022, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA; P.L. 117-159) was signed into law. In addition to provisions addressing mental health services, firearms, and Medicare, the act requires t...
SBA’s Office of Inspector General: Overview, Impact, and Relationship with Congress
Congress created offices of inspector general (OIGs) to assist in its oversight of the executive branch. OIGs provide independent, nonpartisan analysis, conducted in accordance with generally accepted...
Siegel v. Fitzgerald: Supreme Court Makes Rare Comment on the Bankruptcy Clause’s Uniformity Requirement
On June 6, 2022, the Supreme Court decided Siegel v. Fitzgerald, holding that the Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2017 (the “2017 Act”) violated the uniformity requirement of the U.S. Constitution’s Bankr...
Cryptocurrency in 401(k) Retirement Plans
Digital assets, which include cryptocurrencies, crypto-assets, or digital tokens, among others, are digital representations of value and are issued and transferred using distributed ledger or blockcha...
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations for FY2022
The respective House and Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations subcommittees are charged with providing annual appropriations for the Departm...
Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) FY2022 Appropriations: Overview
The Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) appropriations bill includes funding for the Department of the Treasury, the Executive Office of the President, the judiciary, the District of Colu...
Supreme Court’s Decision in Boechler, P.C. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue May Save Some Late-Filed Tax Petitions
On April 21, 2022, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in Boechler, P.C. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, providing insight on when a tax statute’s filing deadline becomes a jurisdiction...
Congress’s Foreign Commerce Clause Power Questioned
On May 5, 2022, a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (the panel) held that the federal sex tourism statute, 18 U.S.C. § 2423(c), outlawing overseas child molestation, ex...
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) FY2022 Budget Request and Appropriations
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) mission is to understand and predict changes in weather, climate, oceans, and coasts; to share that information with others; and to conse...
Double Jeopardy, Dual Sovereignty, and Enforcement of Tribal Laws
On June 13, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision upheld the federal prosecution of a man who had already been convicted of, and punished for, a lesser-included offense by a Court of Indian O...
Social Security: Selected Findings of the 2022 Annual Report
According to the recent report of the Board of Trustees of the Social Security Trust Funds, the program’s finances are in a similar, albeit marginally better, position in 2022 relative to what they we...
The Political Question Doctrine: Political Process, Elections, and Gerrymandering (Part 6)
This Legal Sidebar is the sixth in a six-part series that discusses the Supreme Court’s political question doctrine, which instructs that federal courts should forbear from resolving questions when do...