Senate Scrambles Ahead of Summer Escape. While members of the U.S. House of Representatives returned home for the August congressional recess, the U.S. Senate remained in Washington, D.C., this week to wrap up some legislative business before taking a break. This week, the Senate passed legislation providing assistance to veterans exposed to toxic substances, and it also ratified North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) membership for Finland and Sweden. Additionally, Democratic leaders huddled to hammer out final details of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA), the $739 billion reconciliation package that addresses tax reform, climate change, and healthcare costs. Way back when, the IRA was known as the Build Back Better Act (a measure that never passed the Senate), and it was the legislative vehicle for a number of proposals, including plans to enact a federal paid leave program and increase penalties for violations of federal labor laws. While those provisions are not in the IRA, the bill does include Davis-Bacon Act-like prevailing wage requirements tied to tax credits for certain energy-related construction projects. The Senate is expected to vote on the legislation this weekend.
HHS Proposes Nondiscrimination Rule. On August 4, 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Office for Civil Rights issued a notice of proposed rulemaking—entitled “Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities”...
On Friday, April 10, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) has agreed to pay just over $17 million to resolve allegations that ...