On Thursday, the Senate passed two bills — The Lobbying Disclosure Improvement Act (S. 264) and Disclosing Foreign Influence in Lobbying Act (S. 289) — that attempt to increase disclosure of Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”) activity through amendments to the Lobbying Disclosure Act (“LDA”).  The…

Continue Reading Senate Passes Two FARA-Related Bills

Today, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) unveiled a new bipartisan proposal to develop legislation to promote and regulate artificial intelligence. In a speech at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, Leader Schumer remarked: “[W]ith AI, we cannot be ostriches sticking our heads in the sand. The question…

Continue Reading Senator Schumer Unveils New Two-Part Proposal to Regulate AI

Last week, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced the creation of a new Privacy and Data Protection Task Force (the “Task Force”) to demonstrate the agency’s commitment to protecting consumer data and ensuring that the telecommunications industry remains secure from threat actors.

The Task Force will be led by Enforcement Bureau…

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On 29 March 2023, the UK’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (“DCMS”) published the draft Media Bill (the “Bill”), which will deliver on a number of legislative reforms set out in the Government’s White Paper entitled “Up Next; the Government’s vision for the broadcasting sector”, published in April 2022.…

Continue Reading Evolving Regulatory Landscape for VoD Providers: UK Government Publishes Draft Media Bill

Earlier this week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) published an update to its rulemaking agenda indicating that it does not plan to approve two proposed cyber rules until at least October 2023 (the agenda’s timeframe is an estimate).  The proposed rules in question address disclosure requirements regarding cybersecurity governance…

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The Ninth Circuit recently affirmed summary judgment in favor of a manufacturer of glucosamine dietary supplements, holding that plaintiffs’ state law claims sought to impose requirements different from those under the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) and were thus preempted.  Hollins v. Walmart Inc., 67 F.4th 1011…

Continue Reading Federal Law Preempts Plaintiffs’ Challenges to the Label of a Glucosamine Dietary Supplement, Ninth Circuit Holds

On 31 May 2023, at the close of the fourth meeting of the US-EU Trade & Tech Council (“TTC”), Margrethe Vestager – the European Union’s Executive Vice President, responsible for competition and digital strategy – announced that the EU and US are working together to develop a voluntary AI Code…

Continue Reading EU and US Lawmakers Agree to Draft AI Code of Conduct

Executive Summary:

  • President Lula da Silva is trying to balance his administration’s economic agenda and what it describes as a democracy-strengthening agenda. Both require congressional action but have different chances of approval in a National Congress controlled by conservative and pro-business blocs and with a strong opposition linked to former President Jair Bolsonaro.
  • President Lula is also trying to balance his administration’s foreign policy priorities in a context of increasing great power competition between the United States and China, which diminishes the efficacy of a strategy based on soft power and focused on multilateralism and multipolarity.
  • The 2003 playbook President Lula seems to be applying to both domestic and foreign policies has limits as both Brazil and the international system changed substantially in the past two decades. Using the same strategy risks poor results and paralysis.

Analysis:

Domestic policy priorities

President Lula was elected in October 2022 for his third term with the narrowest margin of votes since Brazil’s return to democracy in 1985. Despite defeating the incumbent, then President Jair Bolsonaro, the 1.8% additional votes Lula received to win were a clear symptom of Brazil’s polarization.

The new administration’s domestic priorities have largely encompassed two objectives. First, to reignite economic growth and job creation with a particular focus on promoting gender equality, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability. Second, to curb what the administration perceives as threats to Brazilian democracy by the far right.

The economic agenda is anchored on three key goals. First, the establishment of a new fiscal framework (that requires a congressional vote) to stabilize public debt and create an incentive for the Central Bank to reduce the benchmark interest rate, set at 13.75% since August 2022. Second, eliminating tax loopholes and strongly enforcing tax rules, through both legislative and administrative action, with an aim at increasing government revenue. Third, to get the National Congress to approve a major tax reform to simplify the Brazilian tax system at the federal, state and local levels — an initiative that requires amending the Constitution.Continue Reading Brazil: Lula’s balancing act in domestic and foreign policy

May 31, 2023, Covington Alert

The Department of Justice (“DOJ”)’s FARA Unit released several new advisory opinions in recent weeks that interpret the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”) and its regulations. While the newly published opinions addressed a number of topics, the FARA Unit’s broad reading of the FARA triggers…

Continue Reading DOJ Releases New FARA Advisory Opinions Affecting Digital Media Platforms

On May 24, 2023, EPA released a guidance memorandum addressing the hazardous waste status of lithium ion batteries under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”).  EPA released the guidance to “both remove uncertainties for the states and industry about the regulatory status of these materials,” and to ensure that…

Continue Reading EPA Clarifies Hazardous Waste Requirements Applicable to Lithium Ion Batteries