Inside Political Law

Updates on developments in campaign finance, lobbying & government ethics law

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On her first day in office, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a significant memorandum to all Department of Justice employees regarding the Department’s criminal enforcement policies, including a notable directive related to the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”). The memorandum provides that “[r]ecourse to criminal charges under the Foreign Agents Registration Act . . .…

The California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) has adopted higher political contribution limits and public officer gift limits for the 2025-2026 political cycle.  The new limits took effect January 1, 2025.

Contribution Limits

Under the new limits, an individual, business entity, or PAC can contribute $5,900 per election to candidates for state legislature, up from…

With the end of the Biden Administration, the start of the Trump 2.0 Administration, and a change of power in the U.S. House, the steady churn of high-skill professionals moving in and out of government positions has reached an all-time high. Indeed, beyond the typical cadre of newly unemployed political appointees, the incoming Trump Administration…

The House Ethics Committee concluded 2024 by releasing a memorandum updating its guidance for Members’ personal use of political campaign funds (“updated guidance”).  While the Federal Election Campaign Act (“FECA”) and Federal Election Commission (“FEC”) regulations prohibit the personal use of campaign funds, House Rule 26.6(b) imposes additional restrictions on the “personal use” of campaign…

On January 2, 2025, the Department of Justice published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking(“NPRM”) soliciting public comments on potential amendments to the Department’s regulationsregarding the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”). The regulatory amendments proposedby the Department are significant, and they would take the statute in a substantially differentdirection. The proposed changes would completely overhaul…

Under a newly enacted law, beginning June 30, 2026, defense contractors risk losing all future contracts with the Defense Department if they engage outside consultants that lobby for certain Chinese companies. On December 23, 2024, President Biden signed the National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”) for Fiscal Year (“FY”) 2025, which sets annual spending and…

With a game-changing advisory opinion (AO 2024-01), 2024 started out with a bang at the Federal Election Commission (“FEC”). Other consequential opinions, enforcement actions, and regulations continued in the following months, challenging the notion that the divided Commission cannot find consensus.

In this alert, we highlight the FEC’s major developments in 2024 across three…

Update: On September 19, 2024, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) voted unanimously to adopt resolutions for civil and criminal enforcement of the Committee’s subpoena to Steward Health Care CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre.  On September 25, 2024, the full Senate voted unanimously to refer this matter to the U.S. Attorney…

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this week issued a cease-and-desist order that demonstrates the SEC pay-to-play rule’s expansiveness and the SEC’s readiness to enforce it to the letter, even when it is virtually impossible that a political contribution could have influenced a government entity’s investment decision.

In this alert, we summarize the SEC…