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Inside Political Law Staff

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At the start of a new Congress, the House and Senate, and their committees, adopt internal rules that govern their operations, including rules that affect congressional investigations. These rules are often revised from Congress to Congress. To assist our clients responding to congressional investigations, this alert summarizes the rules for the 118th Congress of the…

There is near universal agreement among policymakers, lawyers, and lobbyists that the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”) is deeply in need of legislative reforms to update the statute and bring it in line with modern practices. Agreeing on specific amendments, however, has been challenging, and several prior efforts ended with no new enactments, as we…

The Department of Justice (“DOJ” or “The Department”) recently released a letter, sent to Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and a bipartisan group of Senators a few weeks ago, in which DOJ expressed support for eliminating the Lobbying Disclosure Act (“LDA”) registration exemption to the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”). This is a striking and…

As we previewed in the fall, the Supreme Court today struck down the longstanding statutory prohibition on the use of funds raised after Election Day to repay a candidate loan in Federal Election Commission v. Cruz.  Although the outcome of the case—which was brought by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) following his re-election in 2018—was…

Corporations, trade associations, non-profits, other organizations, and individuals face significant penalties and reputational harm if they violate state laws governing corporate and personal political activities, the registration of lobbyists, lobbying reporting, or the giving of gifts or items of value to government officials or employees. To help organizations and individuals comply with these rules, Covington …

Companies doing business with state and local governments or operating in regulated industries are subject to a dizzying array of “pay-to-play” rules. These rules effectively prohibit company executives and employees (and in some cases, their family members) from making certain personal political contributions. Even inadvertent violations can be dangerous: a single political contribution can, for…

Last week, the Department of Justice published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM), the first step toward a major rulemaking that DOJ says would “modernize” the current regulations, including by clarifying certain exemptions and definitions.

In a client alert today, we review key portions of the ANPRM and the direction it suggests the DOJ…

Congressional investigations have continued to play a significant role in the 117th Congress. In February 2021, we predicted that the Democratic majorities in both the House and the Senate would target investigations at the private sector, and this prediction turned out to be correct. Already in 2021, committees in both chambers have launched investigations across…

Earlier today, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform’s “Oversight Plan” was published. The Oversight Plan provides a very useful roadmap of the Committee’s investigative priorities and should be seen as a fair warning to the industries and companies identified in the plan.

In a client alert today, we review key portions of the Committee’s…