After passing the House the preceding week, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 (FY 2026 NDAA) passed the Senate on December 17 by a vote of 77-20 and was signed into law by President Trump the following day. As is frequently the case, this annual “must pass”
Continue Reading New Sanctions Authorities in the FY 2026 NDAAPolicy and Legislation
UK Employment Rights Act Finally Becomes Law
On December 18, 2025, the UK Government passed the Employment Rights Bill, which will now be referred to as the Employment Rights Act 2025 (the “Act“). This represents the “biggest upgrade in employment rights for a generation” and introduces a wide-ranging suite of reforms to be…
Continue Reading UK Employment Rights Act Finally Becomes LawRESourceEU Action Plan – Strengthening the EU’s Access to Critical Raw Materials
On 3 December 2025, the European Commission adopted the RESourceEU Action Plan, signaling that Europe’s industrial competitiveness will increasingly depend on its ability to secure and diversify critical raw material (“CRM”) supply chains. For companies, inside and outside the EU, RESourceEU is more than a technical update: it marks a policy shift toward a more interventionist and security-driven approach to CRM governance.
The analysis below outlines the drivers behind the initiative, its main components, and the implications for multinationals trading into the EU.
Continue Reading RESourceEU Action Plan – Strengthening the EU’s Access to Critical Raw MaterialsPresident Trump Signs Executive Order to Block State AI Laws
On December 11, President Trump signed an Executive Order on “Ensuring a National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence” (“AI Preemption EO”), the culmination of months of efforts by Republican lawmakers to assert federal primacy over AI regulation. The AI Preemption EO, which follows the release of a draft version in…
Continue Reading President Trump Signs Executive Order to Block State AI LawsWashington State AI Task Force Releases AI Policy Recommendations for 2026
On December 1, the Washington State AI Task Force (“Task Force”) released its Interim Report with AI policy recommendations to the Governor and legislature. Established by the legislature in 2024, the Task Force is responsible for evaluating current and potential uses of AI in Washington and recommending regulatory and legislative…
Continue Reading Washington State AI Task Force Releases AI Policy Recommendations for 2026White House Drafts Executive Order to Preempt State AI Laws
According to reports published on November 19, the White House has prepared a draft Executive Order to preempt state AI regulations in lieu of a uniform national legislative framework, marking a significant escalation in federal efforts to assert control over AI regulation. The draft Executive Order, titled “Eliminating State…
Continue Reading White House Drafts Executive Order to Preempt State AI LawsSenate Foreign Relations Committee Action on Russia and China-related Legislation
By Stephen Rademaker on
The government is officially closed, and the House of Representatives is in an extended recess, but the Senate keeps working.
On Wednesday October 22, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a business meeting to consider 19 bills and approve two nominations (Joel Rayburn to be Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs and Andrew Veprek to be Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration). The bills focused mostly on Russia’s war in Ukraine, and on security concerns relating to China, and generally commanded bipartisan support. All of the bills were approved, though some were amended.
One of the more consequential bills was the “REPO Implementation Act”, S. 2918, sponsored by Sen. Whitehouse, and co-sponsored by, among others, Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Risch. This bill seeks to build on last year’s “Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians Act”, or “REPO Act”. That legislation granted authority to the President to confiscate the approximately $5 billion in immobilized Russian sovereign assets in the United States and provide that money to Ukraine and Ukrainian claimants as compensation for the injuries inflicted on them by the war.
Continue Reading Senate Foreign Relations Committee Action on Russia and China-related LegislationDon’t Count on Immediate IEEPA Refunds: What President Trump Might Do If SCOTUS Throws Out IEEPA Tariffs
Posted in International Trade, Policy and Legislation
On November 5, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear the Trump Administration’s appeal of lower court decisions holding the imposition of certain tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”) unlawful. If the Supreme Court rules that IEEPA does not authorize tariffs, the government would no…
Continue Reading Don’t Count on Immediate IEEPA Refunds: What President Trump Might Do If SCOTUS Throws Out IEEPA TariffsCalifornia Governor Signs Landmark AI Safety Legislation
On September 29, California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) signed into law SB 53, the Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act (“TFAIA”), establishing public safety regulations for developers of “frontier models,” or large foundation AI models trained using massive amounts of computing power. TFAIA is the first frontier model safety…
Continue Reading California Governor Signs Landmark AI Safety LegislationCommerce Department and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Exploring a Patent Tax and Patent Fee Changes
The Trump Administration is considering multiple proposals to raise revenue from patent holders, including direct assessments on patent holders, changes to the existing patent fee schedule, and potentially a new mechanism for sharing profits from university-owned patents obtained through federal research funds.
Patent Tax
First, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is…
Continue Reading Commerce Department and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Exploring a Patent Tax and Patent Fee Changes