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March 13, 2024 | Revolving Door Project Newsletter
Meet Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen
Montana’s top legal officer is flying under the national radar, but his scandals and policy agenda mirror his more infamous peers.
March 08, 2024
HackwatchNewsletter 2024 ElectionAnti-MonopolyCatherine RampellConsumer ProtectionDepartment of JusticeDepartment of TransportationFTCHousing
A Decade-Long Week And SOTU Thoughts
This week’s Hack Watch recaps some economic stories you may have missed, plus our initial reaction to Biden’s big speech.
March 06, 2024 | Revolving Door Project Newsletter
Throwing the Public’s Defenders Under the (Mini)Bus
By Friday, Congress needs to vote on a proposed “minibus”—a package of six out of the 12 necessary government spending bills for fiscal year 2024—to avoid a partial government shutdown. We’ve got a handy explainer of all the federal budget terms you wish you didn’t need to know, from “minibus” to “poison pill” to the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, which is the reason why our country’s grotesque military budget is getting a $26 billion boost up to $886 billion, while non-defense spending is getting a $4 billion cut, down to $773 billion.
While there are plenty of damning narratives to derive from the latest in government appropriations dysfunction, there is one story in particular that we’re anxious to see told by the White House and Congressional Democrats, and it’s this…
February 28, 2024
Government Shutdown Threats Allow GOP to Signal to Corporate Cronies It’s Open Season on Consumers
We’re staring down a familiar deadline this week: On Friday, if Congress doesn’t pass a spending bill, we’ll enter a partial government shutdown. And if they pass a short term continuing resolution… we’ll have just kicked the can a few weeks down the increasingly potholed (due to inadequate maintenance) road.
February 15, 2024
Julian Scoffield Vishal Shankar
Newsletter Corporate CrackdownDepartment of JusticeExecutive BranchHousing
An RDP Love Letter To Picking Fights and Good Punditry
Cracking down on corporate abuses is what government should be for.
February 07, 2024
The East Palestine Disaster One Year Later
Biden has yet to visit East Palestine but is expected to do so this month. When he does, he should denounce Norfolk Southern’s avarice from the site of the train wreck.
January 31, 2024 | Revolving Door Project Newsletter
More Revolvers Join The Fight Against The Regulatory State
The regulatory authority of the executive branch is under attack, and BigLaw firms stacked with revolvers are on the front lines leading the assault. I’ve previously written about former FTC Commissioner Christine Varney challenging the legitimacy of her former employer on behalf of pharma company Illumina. Lawyers at Latham & Watkins, a firm stacked with revolvers from executive branch agencies, are before the Supreme Court challenging the Chevron Doctrine, which defers to executive agencies’ interpretations when legislative statutes are unclear. The Securities and Exchange Commission’s ability to hold administrative proceedings hangs in the balance as we await the Supreme Court’s decision in SEC v. Jarkesy, where the Fifth Circuit’s ruling decimated the agency’s authority. In a new attack, revolvers on the labor/management relations team at Morgan Lewis & Bockius have their sights set on the plutocrats’ latest target: the National Labor Relations Board.
January 24, 2024 | Revolving Door Project Newsletter
Fox News Doesn’t Like Us Pointing Out Underutilized EPA Powers
You know you’re doing something right when Fox News is mad about it. So I guess we can count Fox’s vexed coverage of the coalition letter that we and 146 other organizations sent the Environmental Protection Agency last week as a sign that we’re ruffling the right feathers.
January 17, 2024
The Environmental Protection Agency Is Deferring to Louisiana on Environmental Protection. What Could Go Wrong?
In a recent delegation of power over climate regulation, Biden’s executive branch is denying its power to make an impact on issues affecting constituents’ everyday lives.
January 04, 2024
New Year, Same Times
Here’s a resolution for you: stop both sides-ing the deficit debate.
December 13, 2023 | RDP Newsletter
Antitrust Roundup: Revolver Strikes Back, March-In Rights & Other News
While former FTC commissioner Noah Phillips defends private equity from antitrust lawsuits, the media attacks current Chair Lina Khan for … doing her job.
December 06, 2023 | Revolving Door Project Newsletter
The “Billionaire Matchmaker” and his Bad Amici
How does one right-wing activist get his worst ideas to appear in the legal decisions of the most powerful judges in America? A bombshell Politico investigation this week has the answers on how rightwing activist and “billionaire matchmaker” Leonard Leo managed to influence the outcome of several of the Supreme Court’s highest-profile and most damaging decisions over the past two years.
December 01, 2023
HackwatchNewsletter BankingCongressional OversightConsumer ProtectionFinancial RegulationIndependent Agencies
Wall Street’s Favorite Republicans Are Still Attacking The CFPB
These corporate shills are not “positive pragmatists”, no matter what the mainstream media tells you.
November 29, 2023
Biden Administration Remains Split Over Fighting Concentrated Corporate Power
This week’s newsletter looks at executive branch attempts to counteract concentrated corporate power across our focus areas – from consumer protection in Big Tech, to housing, to climate regulation. While the FTC and DOJ antitrust division continue to be present in important fights to support consumers and tenants, proactive climate policy continues to be absent, as Biden’s rhetoric regarding challenging climate change rings hollow in areas where the president has considerable discretion.