Policy
Kids online safety push faces First Amendment hurdles
As Congress considers competing House and Senate proposals meant to protect kids online, lawmakers have only to look to their states to understand the challenges in seeking to regulate kids’ social media usage without running afoul of the First Amendment. States have already tried some of the same strategies Congress is considering, only to see those […]
Cruz, Democrats push back on FCC move to lift ownership cap
The Trump administration is moving ahead with plans to allow for more consolidation in local television, a move that got pushback from Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Cruz over the role of Congress in changing the television ownership cap. Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr announced plans Wednesday to vote to repeal the national broadcast ownership […]
CDC nominee walks tightrope on vaccines, service under RFK Jr.
President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday attempted to demonstrate that she can restore trust in the agency, during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee confirmation hearing. The issue of vaccines took center stage during the hearing for Erica Schwartz, who sought to assure senators that she […]
Bipartisan bill to eliminate hepatitis C unveiled in House
A bipartisan pair of House members are introducing legislation aimed at treating millions of Americans of a deadly-but-curable liver disease, the culmination of a yearslong push from public health advocates. The bill, sponsored by Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa and Diana DeGette, D-Colo., would create a national hepatitis C elimination program to expand testing and treatment especially for […]
Defense funding to research troops’ brain injuries shrank since 2025
Funding for Defense Department medical research into traumatic brain injuries has dropped by more than three-quarters in the last three fiscal years, even as the problem continues to plague U.S. servicemembers. At issue is the Pentagon-funded program to research detection and treatment of TBIs and to understand psychological health issues, including those that can come […]
Justices to face Congress after contentious court rulings
Supreme Court justices are scheduled to appear before both Senate and House appropriators next week, marking the first time since 2019 that justices will face lawmakers. Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan are slated to testify before the Senate and House Financial Services Appropriations subcommittees on July 14 to discuss the high court’s fiscal […]
Trump’s Dubious Claim that Birthright Citizenship Could Still Be Overturned with Legislation
by Robert Farley ANALYSIS — After the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship, the president called on Congress to end it through legislation, saying a “long and unwieldy” constitutional amendment was not necessary. But constitutional and immigration law experts disagree. These experts say the majority opinion from […]
Syringe services in limbo under Trump, risking hepatitis C progress
A decade after Congress first allowed federal funding to support clean needle programs, the Trump administration is backing off that policy, potentially risking progress made against hepatitis C, a deadly but curable virus mostly spread by people who inject drugs. The administration now says funding can no longer support the programs such as paying the people who […]
SCOTUS term marked by shifts to the right, some checks to Trump
The Supreme Court capped its term Tuesday with one decision overturning a long-standing campaign finance limit and another turning aside President Donald Trump’s attempt to unilaterally change birthright citizenship — a day, experts said, that exemplified this year at the court. Throughout the term, they said the conservative-controlled court continued to tinker away at long-standing […]
Recess to start early in House after GOP frustration boils over
House Republican leaders are giving up on trying to put the pieces back together for a rule needed to take up a raft of pre-recess legislative priorities after a group of GOP rebels blocked the procedural measure earlier, largely over lack of movement on voter ID requirements. The decision to send members home early for […]