As the election season intensifies, companies face a rapidly evolving landscape of regulatory, compliance, and reputational considerations. With heightened scrutiny on political engagement, lobbying, campaign finance, and communications, organizations must be prepared to navigate complex and fast-moving legal requirements.

Drawing on our deep experience in election and political law, public…

Continue Reading Covington Launches Election Year Toolkit

With fewer than 180 days until the midterm elections, Democratic Members of Congress are laying the groundwork for future congressional investigations in the event the party regains control of one or both chambers next year. Even as Democratic Members prepare for the possibility of winning the majority, developments such as…

Continue Reading Today’s Press Release Could Be Tomorrow’s Subpoena: Bracing For the Possibility of Democratic Congressional Investigations

On April 23, 2026, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that the IRS plans to revise the Form 990 to improve transparency and provide clearer reporting on certain transactions of 501(c)(3) organizations, including government contracts, government grants, and fiscal sponsorship arrangements. In this alert, we provide a summary…

Continue Reading Tax-Exempt Organizations: Treasury Announces IRS Plans to Revise Form 990

An election year brings ample opportunities for corporations to participate in the political process, and the current political environment can create enormous pressures to do so. But with these opportunities and pressures come legal risks and compliance burdens. Given the differing and complex rules across jurisdictions, companies should be aware…

Continue Reading The 6 Top Compliance Mistakes by Corporations in an Election Year

With redistricting, the “billionaire tax” and other ballot measures, and heated gubernatorial and other races, contributors are giving huge amounts of money this year in California state and local elections.  California has a complex campaign finance system, and it can be easy to miss some of the requirements.  Key among…

Continue Reading Don’t Forget Your California Major Donor Reports!

In 2025, Texas, Nebraska, Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma enacted state-level foreign agent registration and disclosure regimes that were loosely modeled on the federal Foreign Agents Registration Act. And in the first few months of 2026, several states — Alabama, Florida, Iowa, Missouri and West Virginia, to name a few — have…

Continue Reading State FARA Laws Pose Unique Constitutional Challenges

Covington is pleased to announce that it has revised and updated its comprehensive 50-state survey of political laws for 2026.

Corporations, trade associations, non-profits, other organizations, and individuals face significant penalties and reputational harm if they violate federal or state laws governing corporate and personal political activities, the registration of…

Continue Reading Covington Announces Political Law Survey (2026 Edition)

Covington is pleased to announce that it has revised and updated its comprehensive 50-state survey of pay-to-play laws for 2026.

Companies doing business with the federal government or state and local governments and companies operating in regulated industries are subject to a dizzying array of “pay-to-play” rules. These rules effectively…

Continue Reading Covington Announces Pay-to-Play Survey (2026 Edition)

With the midterm elections rapidly approaching, Democratic lawmakers in both the House and Senate have begun to return to an increasingly familiar tactic of the minority: firing off a flurry of document preservation letters that are a harbinger for the subpoenas to come.  These early letters signal that key Democrats…

Continue Reading The Paper Trail Starts Now: Minority Document Preservation Letters and Preparing for Oversight to Come

In 2018, Covington published the original version of its widely read primer on the Foreign Agents Registration Act, “FARA: A Guide for the Perplexed.” We have updated this primer periodically. This week, the firm released the latest edition of the primer, featuring new analysis of recent Department of Justice…

Continue Reading Covington Releases Updated Version of “FARA:  A Guide for the Perplexed”