Week in Review

IN THE NEWS

• In a 6–3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that President Donald J. Trump did not have the authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs on imported goods, striking down the tariffs as unconstitutional taxes that only Congress can levy. The Court did not provide a mechanism for businesses to get refunds for tariffs they already paid, leaving that question for lower courts to decide. President Trump claimed that “almost all countries and corporations” want to keep deals they have already made rather than face potentially worse tariffs under new Section 301 investigations, which would create new, country-specific tariffs as a way to replace the high-rate tariffs that were ruled unconstitutional.
• The European Union halted approval of its trade agreement with the United States after President Trump threatened to impose a 15 percent global tariff—up from the 10 percent he announced a day earlier—following a U.S. Supreme Court decision that ruled his sweeping tariffs illegal. The European Commission stated that “a deal is a deal” and warned that the EU expects the United States to honor its commitments, with no increases in tariffs beyond what was previously agreed upon. U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer said the Administration expects to “stand by” existing agreements.
• The U.S. Department of Homeland Security suspended Global Entry, which expedites airport customs processing for some international travelers, due to the department’s lapse in funding. The department reportedly announced that the Transportation Security Administration’s PreCheck program would also be suspended, before reversing that decision. But Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security, reportedly warned that PreCheck could still be suspended if the ongoing partial government shutdown—which affects only the Department of Homeland Security—continues. The department blamed Democratic lawmakers for the shutdown, while Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) accused the department of “choosing to inflict pain on the public,” noting that the Global Entry program was unaffected throughout last year’s historically-long, full-government shutdown.
• The U.S. Department of the Interior revoked protections for over 2.1 million acres of public land in northern Alaska to allow domestic energy and mineral production. In a statement, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum referenced President Trump’s executive order promoting “American Energy Dominance.” Prospective projects for the land include the construction of a natural gas pipeline and an industrial road to a mining district. Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy called the action “a milestone for Alaska’s self-determination.” Meanwhile, the Tanana Chiefs Conference, an organization of Native tribal governments in the region, claimed the decision will put tribal “lands, animals, waters, and subsistence resources at real risk.”
• [Sean] The U.S. Attorney for the District Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, ended the government’s case against the six Democratic members of congress who posted a video last year calling on military members to refuse unlawful orders. At the time, President Donald J. Trump accused the six lawmakers of “seditious behavior, punishable by death,” while Democratic lawmakers defended the video as legally accurate, protected speech. Despite the low bar for indictment—experts have long remarked that a jury would “indict a ham sandwich”—a grand jury failed to indict the six lawmakers, prompting Pirro to drop the case.
• [Julie] The U.S. Department of Justice sued the state of New Jersey and its Governor Mikie Sherrill over an executive order banning U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from entering nonpublic areas of state property without a warrant. The order also barred ICE agents from using state property as a “staging area, processing location, or operations base.” The Justice Department argued that the order violated the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit arrives several weeks after the Trump Administration ended its surge of ICE agents deployed in Minnesota.
• [Julie] The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced updates to its internal enforcement protocols that will give people subject to investigations more time to respond to notices of potential charges against them. Now, after a suspect files a response to the SEC’s allegations, the suspect will be entitled to a meeting with a senior SEC member within four weeks. Before the changes, the SEC often allowed suspects two weeks to respond to its charges but granted extensions.
• [Sean] The Trump Administration’s nominee for Surgeon General, Casey Means, faced questions about her stance on the efficacy of vaccines in a U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee confirmation hearing. Some health experts have criticized what they perceive as unfounded opposition to vaccines by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Earlier this month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration initially refused to consider an application for an mRNA-based flu vaccine, surprising experts, before accepting the application last week. In her confirmation hearing, Means reportedly acknowledged the efficacy of vaccines but declined to endorse flu and measles vaccines for children.

WHAT WE’RE READING THIS WEEK

• In a recent report, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) examined the coordination in public health emergency preparedness between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR). These agencies, which run the Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) Program and Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP), lack a formal mechanism to unite the programs. GAO observed that, while HHS awarded almost $900 million in fiscal year 2024 to help jurisdictions prepare for public health threats, CDC and ASPR do not collect or analyze information on jurisdictions’ ability to meet the 15 public health and four health care preparedness capabilities or identify related gaps. GAO recommended that HHS establish a mechanism to coordinate PHEP and HPP, provide information on how required activities support preparedness capabilities, and analyze information on jurisdictions’ capabilities and gaps.
• A recent report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) examined Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) oversight of toxic substances in children’s products. GAO found that CPSC uses risk-based approaches to assess children’s products at U.S. ports, including screening for lead and other toxic substances, but has not developed an oversight plan to ensure that a new e-filing system will achieve accurate, timely data submissions. GAO observed that while CPSC has processes to verify that labs meet its accreditation requirements, it has not proactively analyzed violation data across lab types to identify potential risks such as inaccurate testing or misreported results. GAO also found that CPSC has not reviewed its lead requirements as mandated by federal law and lacks written procedures for monitoring changes related to other toxic substances in children’s products. GAO recommended that CPSC establish oversight plans for e-filing compliance and lab risk assessment and document processes for keeping its lead and toxic substance standards up-to-date.
• In a recent article, Theodosia Stavroulaki, a law professor at St. Louis University, argued that hospital mergers are exacerbating infant and maternal mortality rates in the United States. Rural hospitals often merge with competitors to avoid closure, but many of these hospitals stop providing obstetric care after being absorbed, Stavroulaki explained. These discontinuations force women to travel further for obstetric care and cause some women to forgo care entirely—particularly women who cannot afford transportation, childcare, or time off from work. Stavroulaki proposed that the Federal Trade Commission use its antitrust enforcement powers to either block mergers that would reduce access to care or negotiate settlements under which merging hospitals commit to keeping obstetric care units open.

EDITOR’S CHOICE

• In an essay for The Regulatory Review, Richard J. Pierce, professor at The George Washington University Law School, argued that environmental groups that block the construction of natural gas pipelines and electricity transmission lines are creating significant obstacles to mitigating climate change. Pierce explained that electric generating plants accounted for 38 percent of carbon dioxide emissions and the only practical way to cut emissions is through “fuel switching”—substituting natural gas for coal—which reduces carbon content by about half. Pierce argued that maintaining these gains requires building new pipelines to transport natural gas to power plants and new transmission lines to connect wind and solar facilities to population centers where electricity is consumed. Pierce concluded that environmental advocacy groups should carefully consider whether the local environmental effects of any proposed pipeline or transmission line truly exceed its climate benefits, suggesting such situations will be rare.