Shortly before adjourning for 2025, the Senate passed two bills to broaden disclosure and registration requirements related to the regulation of foreign agents under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”) and the Lobbying Disclosure Act (“LDA”): the Disclosing Foreign Influence in Lobbying Act (S. 856 / H.R. 1883)
Continue Reading Senate Advances Bills To Broaden Foreign Agent Disclosures in Lobbying ReportsNew York City Council Poised to Reinvigorate Investigative Authorities and Issue Subpoenas to the Private Sector
Among a wave of noteworthy results in this fall’s off-year elections, Zohran Mamdani’s selection as the next Mayor of New York City was perhaps the most closely watched and widely discussed. Though much of that commentary has focused on the new Mayor himself, the New York City Council appears poised…
Continue Reading New York City Council Poised to Reinvigorate Investigative Authorities and Issue Subpoenas to the Private SectorIs a Political Law Shareholder Proposal Under Your Tree? Strategies for Responding in the New Year
The 2025 proxy season saw significant developments with respect to proposals calling on companies to disclose information about their political contribution activity and lobbying activity, including an increase in support for political contribution proposals. That stronger support, particularly against the backdrop of reduced support for socially-oriented shareholder proposals, may lead…
Continue Reading Is a Political Law Shareholder Proposal Under Your Tree? Strategies for Responding in the New YearCorporate and Industry “Mega PACs”: The Next Frontier for Super PACs
By Derek Lawlor, Andrew Garrahan & Kimberly Railey on
Posted in Campaign Finance
Since the landmark Citizens United decision in 2010, super PACs have become a fixture of U.S. political campaigns. But despite the initial anticipated boom in corporate influence in elections, most super PAC funding to date has come from wealthy individuals, closely-held corporations, and nonprofits, not from large for-profit corporations.
However…
Continue Reading Corporate and Industry “Mega PACs”: The Next Frontier for Super PACsForming and Operating Super PACs: A Practical Guide for Political Consultants in 2026
By Derek Lawlor, Andrew Garrahan & Kimberly Railey on
Posted in Campaign Finance
In the 2024 election cycle, super PACs spent a reported $2.7 billion at the federal level, up from roughly $1.4 billion in 2022. And in 2025, super PACs poured tens of millions into state and local races, including the New Jersey gubernatorial race and the New York City mayoral…
Continue Reading Forming and Operating Super PACs: A Practical Guide for Political Consultants in 2026Practical Advice for Nonprofits and Donors After the Presidential Memorandum on “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence” and Reported IRS Enforcement Changes
By Robert Kelner, Peter Koski, Brian D. Smith, Susan Leahy, Kaitlyn Demers, Andrew Garrahan & William Sokolove on
Posted in Enforcement
- On September 25, 2025, President Trump issued National Security Presidential Memorandum/NSPM-7, Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence. The memorandum
Handling Investigations of Members of Congress and Congressional Staff: A How-To Guide for Chiefs of Staff
It may begin with an unusual media inquiry or a sudden spike in interest on social media. Just as often, it starts with a non-public request for documents or other evidence. Your boss or your staff have been accused of wrongdoing, and it falls to you to lead the response.…
Continue Reading Handling Investigations of Members of Congress and Congressional Staff: A How-To Guide for Chiefs of StaffDOJ Posts (then Takes Down) Seventeen New Advisory Opinions Regarding the Foreign Agents Registration Act
By Robert Kelner, Brian D. Smith & Alex Langton on
Posted in Foreign Agents Registration Act
Following an announcement in September that the White House intends to deploy the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”) to investigate persons with foreign ties that “foment political violence,” the FARA Unit of the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) quietly (and maybe inadvertently) published and then unpublished 17 new advisory opinions regarding…
Continue Reading DOJ Posts (then Takes Down) Seventeen New Advisory Opinions Regarding the Foreign Agents Registration ActTax Exemption and Constitutional Vagueness – What Freedom Path Means for 501(c)(4) Organizations
By Susan Leahy & Pooja Shah Kothari on
Posted in Tax
The recent decision in Freedom Path, Inc. v. Internal Revenue Service addressed whether the IRS’s standards used to deny Freedom Path’s tax exemption as a 501(c)(4) organization were unconstitutionally vague. The United States District Court for the District of Columbia partially agreed with Freedom Path, acknowledging that the relevant guidance…
Continue Reading Tax Exemption and Constitutional Vagueness – What Freedom Path Means for 501(c)(4) OrganizationsCongressional Ethics Investigations: An Overview of Processes, Challenges, and Implications for Private Actors
Posted in Congressional Investigations
Following a string of high-profile investigations targeting Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, congressional ethics investigations are more visible than ever. Indeed, as we recently explored, the House Ethics Committee in particular may be moving toward a more active and transparent enforcement posture, with its…
Continue Reading Congressional Ethics Investigations: An Overview of Processes, Challenges, and Implications for Private Actors