IN THE NEWS:
- A federal judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas paused Florida and Texas’s lawsuit challenging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) regulation of the abortion pill mifepristone, pending the agency’s review of the drug’s restrictions. The states challenged FDA’s prior approval of mifepristone, alleging that the agency violated federal law by inadequately assessing the safety and effectiveness of the drug. Judge Reed O’Connor granted a request by the government to pause the case until December 1, 2026—after the midterm elections—or until FDA completes its ongoing review, whichever occurs first. The lawsuit is one of three pending suits in federal court that would change nationwide access to mifepristone and is the only one challenging the drug’s approval.
- The Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision allowing the construction of a new East Wing ballroom at the White House to continue. The Supreme Court held that the National Trust for Historic Preservation lacked standing to challenge the project because its member’s objections to the ballroom construction did not constitute a concrete, particularized injury. The Court, however, did not address the legality of the construction. Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.—joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson—dissented, arguing that a historic preservationist’s documented interest in viewing the White House in its traditional form is a concrete injury and the majority allowed a “likely unlawful” construction to proceed unchecked.
- A federal judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland granted a preliminary injunction against an executive order that purports to identify groups of children born within the United States who do not qualify for birthright citizenship. The executive order denies citizenship to children born to noncitizen parents who were identified as alien enemies or who had engaged in commercial transactions for the purpose of gaining citizenship for their children. The court noted that the U.S. Supreme Court had held this year in Trump v. Barbara that children born in the United States to noncitizen parents who were not in the country legally were United States citizens. Because the executive order would deny citizenship to some children who the Supreme Court had already held were citizens, the court ruled that the executive order was likely unconstitutional.
- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit vacated a district court decision that had found the False Claims Act’s qui tam provisions unconstitutional. The provisions allow private individuals to bring fraud lawsuits on behalf of the federal government. Clarissa Zafirov brought a qui tam lawsuit alleging that several health care companies submitted false diagnosis codes to receive greater Medicare payments. The district court had concluded that whistleblowers who bring such suits exercise significant governmental authority when bringing these suits and therefore are federal officers subject to the U.S. Constitution’s Appointments Clause. The Eleventh Circuit disagreed, holding that whistleblowers are not federal officers because their roles are temporary and tied to individual cases. The court remanded the case to consider other constitutional challenges to the False Claims Act.
- A federal judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York struck down New York’s Climate Change Superfund Act, a statute that requires fossil fuel companies that were responsible for significant amounts of greenhouse gas emissions to contribute to climate change-related infrastructure expenses undertaken by New York. Judge Brenda K. Sannes held that the act was preempted by federal law because the state system was not authorized by the Clean Air Act, a federal statute that addresses air pollution. New York Governor Kathy Hochul indicated that the state plans to appeal the decision.
- Judge Indira Talwani of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued a temporary freeze barring the U.S. Postal Service from enforcing key portions of President Donald J. Trump’s executive order restricting mail-in voting. The proposed rule would withhold mail ballot delivery in states that do not share voter data with the Postal Service and restrict delivery to ballots meeting certain criteria before this year’s midterm elections. The Trump Administration already appealed the decision on the mail voting rule. In a report released by U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a whistleblower alleged that the Postal Service defied the court order by pursuing a “secretive, rushed” effort to implement the mail voting order through a data portal requiring states to upload new mail ballot envelope designs and voter lists.
- The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 22 states sued Amazon, claiming that the company used deceptive and unfair advertising practices to inflate prices. Amazon uses auctions to sell opportunities to place sponsored advertisements on its website to companies. According to the complaint, Amazon claims that the auctions are second-price auctions — in which the highest bidder is only required to pay one cent more than the second highest bid — but then artificially inflates prices by creating second-price bids that were not submitted by real bidders. The FTC claims that Amazon’s alleged scheme has caused over one million advertising customers to be overcharged, including many small businesses.
- U.S. Representative Mark Takano (D-Calif.) introduced the Promoting Authenticity with Influencer Disclaimers (PAID) Act to increase transparency in paid political content on social media. Currently, the Federal Election Commission, which oversees political spending, does not apply its rules to social media, and the Federal Trade Commission does not regulate political advertisements. The PAID Act would amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to close this gap and require influencers to disclose when candidates or political action committees pay them for their content.
