Weekly Update: 3/2/20
President and Administration
The Administration has released a chart outlining the plan to transfer $136 million from HHS programs to address the coronavirus crisis…
A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday, 2/26, that the Trump administration can withhold millions of dollars from law enforcement agencies in states and cities that do not cooperate with U.S. immigration authorities…
On Friday, 2/28, a lawsuit was filed in federal court in San Francisco by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the Sierra Club…
The Supreme Court today, 3/2, said it will take up a Republican challenge to Obamacare, in a move that boosts Democrats who want to highlight the lawsuit’s threat to health care coverage during campaign season…
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments tomorrow, 3/3, in a case about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that could leave Congress with a big mess to clean up with the agency that was a key response to the 2008 financial crisis…
Education
On Wednesday, 2/26, Secretary DeVos announced a new Title IX enforcement initiative, led by the Department's Office for Civil Rights (OCR), to combat the troubling rise of sexual assault in K-12 public schools…
School districts are at the head of a cresting wave of litigation against JUUL and other e-cigarette manufacturers, seeking to recover the costs of prevention programs, counseling, and treatment for addicted students…
Congress
On Friday, 2/28, the House, by a vote of 213-195, passed H.R. 2239, the “Reversing the Youth Tobacco Epidemic Act of 2019,” legislation introduced by Rep. Pallone which would ban all characterizing e-cigarette flavors, allow FDA to collect user fees from all classes of tobacco products and increase the total amount of user fees collected by $100 million…
On Tuesday, 3/3, the House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee will hold a hearing entitled “Reducing Child Poverty.”
On Wednesday, 3/4, the House Transportation-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Housing and Urban Development Department budget.
On Wednesday, 3/4, the Senate Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Education Department budget.
2020 Candidates
Tomorrow, 3/3, 14 states, including California, will vote on Super Tuesday on a Democratic presidential race that has largely been reset: Former Vice President Joe Biden is seeking to capitalize on his victory in the South Carolina primary over the weekend, while former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., and Sen. Amy Klobuchar both dropped out of the race, both endorsing Biden.