December 2025 Once relatively obscure, crypto has gone global. Cryptocurrency has experienced continual, rapid growth and significant price fluctuations. Between 2021 and 2022, after reaching what was then an all-time high of around $3 trillion, the market lost two-thirds of its value and fell to $800 billion. Since then, the market increased steeply again and is valued at $2.8 trillion as of April 1, 2025. The two most widely used cryptocurrencies are Bitcoin and Ether, which, as of January 2025, represent more than 65% of the crypto market capitalization. Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether fluctuate in value based on…

June 2025 Who is defined as a “U.S. citizen” may be on the line — and how Congress and the courts construe a few words in the Fourteenth Amendment may be the deciding factor. The 14th Amendment was ratified after the Civil War. Its text begins with the Citizenship Clause: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” These words grant what has come to be known as “birthright citizenship” — children born in the United States to immigrant parents,…

The Legality of the FDA’s Drug Approval Process In June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed nearly 50 years of precedent by overturning Roe v. Wade’s holding that the right to an abortion is protected in the U.S. Constitution. Now, two years later, the court is considering another major case that could greatly curtail access to one of the most common forms of abortion. The lawsuit, brought by a group of antiabortion medical groups and doctors, challenges the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) rules regulating the abortion drug mifepristone, which is used in conjunction with misoprostol to terminate a pregnancy. Read…

The 119th Congress makes major immigration changes Immigration reform continues to be a priority on Capitol Hill. In January, the first immigration bill passed by the 119th Congress became law. The Laken Riley Act passed the Senate and House of Representatives with bipartisan support, which may lead the way for other immigration measures to successfully become law.  The Laken Riley Act amended the section of the Immigration and Nationality Act that provides when detention of certain non-U.S. nationals (defined as “aliens” under federal law) is mandatory.  Specifically, the act requires the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to detain individuals unlawfully…

On March 20, President Donald J. Trump passed an executive order to close the U.S. Department of Education (DOE). The order directed the Secretary of Education to return authority over education to the states “while ensuring the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services.” Congress assigned many of the DOE’s responsibilities, so the president can’t dismantle the department without an act of Congress or legally direct the agency to refrain from actions it is required to do by law. The executive order already faces numerous legal challenges. Republican lawmakers also proposed legislation to dissolve the DOE on Nov. 21, 2024, in…

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) has proposed an act that  would ban members of Congress, the vice president,  the president and their immediate family members from  owning or trading stocks, securities, commodities, futures, options, trusts and similar assets.  

The Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act (H.R. 7024), introduced by Rep. Jason Smith  (R-Mo.), passed the House with overwhelming support  Jan. 31.  

In December 2023, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) introduced the Disengaging Entirely From the United Nations Debacle (DEFUND) Act,  which proposes to withdraw the U.S. from the UN and  stop all U.S. funding to the organization.   Since then, Republicans have offered several other  proposals, both rhetorically and in 2025 budget proposals,  to defund the UN.  The U.S. was a key founder of the UN in 1945 and  has been a major financial contributor ever since. In 2022,  the most recent fiscal year with full data available, the  U.S. contributed over $18 billion to the UN, or…