Lawmakers are at odds over legislation that allows the U.S. government to surveil noncitizens overseas without a warrant. Set to expire last December, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) specifically authorizes the National Security Agency (NSA) to collect communications of foreigners who are located outside the U.S. and who have been deemed intelligence targets. Currently, the NSA does not have to issue warrants to collect the information from American companies such as AT&T when surveiling noncitizens. Critics of the legislation argue that it threatens the civil liberties of Americans given that some of the communications collected could…

The Biden administration recently announced a temporary pause on new natural gas exports as part of its climate agenda. The announcement, which came in January 2024, was met with a mixed response. Those in favor, largely Democrats, applauded the administration for its work to protect the environment as well as for the potential to lower fuel costs for American consumers. Conservatives, however, argued that the move could make it harder for other countries to replace dirtier fuel supplies with cleaner natural gas from the U.S. and that it could be a threat to American jobs. “President Biden’s politically motivated ban…

Public health advocates came up just shy of their decade-long goal of banning the sale of menthol cigarettes in the U.S. this past fall. In October 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) submitted rules to ban the manufacturing and sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars, but the office in charge of reviewing the rules has, so far, taken no action. Updating FDA rules is a long process, requiring multiple agency reviews, public comment periods and a development period that takes these findings into consideration. Still, many in favor of the ban voiced their disappointment that the rules…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new policy in January 2024 to allow Florida to import prescription drugs from suppliers in Canada, where drugs are often less expensive than in the U.S. While the move received bipartisan support, it was met with less favorable reactions from Canadian health providers and pharmaceutical companies. Florida’s plan to import drugs was signed into law in 2019 by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, but it required review and approval by the FDA, which stated that the state’s strategy demonstrates an ability to “significantly reduce the cost of covered products to the American…

A Biden administration plan to increase the conservation efforts of America’s public lands is receiving mixed reviews. In March of last year, the administration announced the Public Lands Rule, which establishes a policy to protect, restore and manage the country’s more than 245 million acres of public lands. While the move is largely supported by environmentalists, some critics of the proposed rule argue that the policy could negatively affect the energy industry as well as local economies. The Department of the Interior and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) — the agency that oversees U.S. public lands — argued that the…

There’s a growing debate around the country as to whether or not to ban cellphones in schools. On one side, many educators argue that cellphones are an impediment to learning as well as sources of increased stress and mental health issues among students. While on the other side of the argument, some parents have expressed safety concerns should their children not be allowed to access their cellphone during the school day. The debate seems to be growing as more and more school-age children have access to smartphones. A survey from last year by the Pew Research Center, for example, found…

For the first time in decades, capital punishment is a rising issue in the 2024 U.S. presidential campaign. Several of the Republican candidates are pushing for expanding the death penalty to be used as punishment for a wider array of crimes, including drug and human trafficking. President Joe Biden, meanwhile, has argued against capital punishment and promised in his 2020 campaign to remove it from U.S. statutes. The president has not yet acted on his campaign promise, however. Republicans, including presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, have been outspoken on the campaign trail about their desires to enforce tougher…

The Biden administration is proposing a new minimum staffing standard for American nursing homes, and the move is receiving mixed feedback. Those in favor argue that it will help to increase the quality of care in these facilities, while those who oppose the newly proposed standard argue that it could lead to nursing home closures and other unintended consequences. Among its stipulations, the proposed rule would require nursing home facilities to have a registered nurse (RN) on staff 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Current federal law mandates that nursing homes have an RN on duty for eight…

After two years of negotiations, the U.S. and Iran solidified an agreement in September to swap prisoners and allow Iran to access $6 billion in frozen assets. The deal was met with some support — proof that adversarial countries can reach an agreement — but also a fair amount of skepticism due to perceived enabling of an antagonistic country. For its part, the White House defended the move as a step toward reuniting families. “The president is making five families whole again,” a White House official told reporters following the official swap of the five American prisoners, plus two family…

Lawmakers and stakeholders within the business industry are at odds over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule to collect data on small business loan recipients. Proponents of the rule argue that it will allow for more equitable lending practices, while opponents argue that the rule constitutes a privacy breach and administrative burden. The CFPB’s 1071 rule specifically requires financial institutions to submit information about the race, ethnicity and gender of small business loan recipients. It also requires information on lending decisions and the price of credit. The bureau argued that greater data collection “will give investors and lenders more…