Public Policy
Regulation, trade, government and security, read for what they do to the businesses that have to live with them.
Public Policy is the vertical for the decisions made in capitals that land on companies. Regulation, trade and tariffs, elections and government, antitrust, and healthcare policy are the beats, and geopolitics and security appear when they change what a business can plan for. Three stories each weekday at 11, in our own words, linked to the publisher. We choose for the reader who has to model a policy risk rather than argue about it: the general counsel, the head of government affairs, the founder selling into a market whose rules are moving. Sources range from newspapers to think tanks and academic institutes, and we say which is which. The editor’s note beneath the day’s lead explains the choice and what to watch as the policy moves from proposal to enforcement.
Picture credit: By Touch Of Light - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=158822157
Every story we have kept in Public Policy, newest first. Headlines link to the publisher; the tags below narrow the list.
More from Jacob Mchangama on Frederick Douglass's Views on Free Speech
Historian Jacob Mchangama's essay series traces how Frederick Douglass championed counterspeech and press freedom, defending even a pro-slavery senator's right to speak when abolitionist crowds tried shouting him down.
Editor's noteDouglass's defence of a rival's right to speak, even while opposing him, is a sharper historical rebuttal to today's no-platforming arguments than most modern commentary offers. The essay is useful less as history than as a ready-made counterexample for anyone debating where counterspeech ends and suppression begins.
Solomon Islands: how 100 days of Wale reshaped its foreign policy
In his first 100 days, Solomon Islands PM Matthew Wale pivoted toward Australia, the US and Japan, launched a review of the 2022 China security pact, and signed a US shiprider deal.
Today in Supreme Court History: September 20, 1968
On this date in 1968, New York City denied a preservation certificate to Penn Central, a dispute that later produced the Supreme Court's landmark takings-clause ruling.
Anthropic extends its GSA OneGov deal for Claude by one month
Anthropic's discounted one-dollar-per-user Claude for Government deal under the GSA OneGov programme was extended a month to 31 October, following OpenAI's new federal pricing agreement.
Editor's noteA one-month extension sounds procedural until you notice what it is holding open: a dollar-per-user price for federal agencies, set against a competitor's new federal agreement. Procurement at that price shapes which system government staff learn first, and that advantage outlasts any contract term.
China-Based Artificial Intelligence Companies Conducting Industrial-Scale Distillation Campaigns Against U.S. AI Companies
NSA, CISA and FBI warn that Chinese AI firms including DeepSeek and Moonshot AI have systematically extracted capabilities from Claude, GPT, Gemini and Grok since 2024 using proxy accounts and prompt injection.
OpenAI, GSA strike OneGov deal for ChatGPT through 2028
OpenAI and the US General Services Administration extended ChatGPT access to federal agencies through 2028, offering consumption-based pricing at a 50 percent discount with no platform fee.
A Threshold Crossed in Saxony-Anhalt
Alternative for Germany won Saxony-Anhalt's state election outright, the first postwar far-right victory in a German state, straining Chancellor Friedrich Merz's coalition and raising doubts about Germany's continued support for NATO and Ukraine.
The Lindsay Clancy Trial Was Never Going To Answer the Question Everyone Was Asking
Reason's Billy Binion argues the deadlocked Lindsay Clancy jury faced an unanswerable question, whether postpartum psychosis negated criminal responsibility, reflecting the case's genuine complexity rather than a failure of the Massachusetts justice system.
Eleventh Circuit Holds Qui Tam Relators Are Not "Officers of the United States." What Happens Next?
The Eleventh Circuit unanimously held False Claims Act qui tam relators are not "officers of the United States," rejecting an Appointments Clause challenge and remanding separation-of-powers questions in USA ex rel. Zafirov.
"Incredulity" That "Competent Law Firm Representing One of the Largest Financial Institution[s] in the World" Filed Brief with AI Hallucinations
The D.C. Court of Appeals struck Deutsche Bank's appellate brief and referred its attorney to disciplinary counsel after finding four cited cases were fabricated by an AI research tool and never verified before filing.
Editor's noteA filing this error-ridden did not come from a solo practitioner cutting corners. It came from counsel to one of the world's largest banks, which is the part worth sitting with before any argument about AI tools in legal work.
Trump Is Back To Seeking Regime Change in Iran
A Reason column says Trump has resumed pushing for regime change in Iran after the inconclusive war launched in February 2026, arguing the campaign has killed civilians without weakening the government.
Fighting AI with AI: The US’s New Cyber Rules of Engagement
A CEPA analysis says a new White House memorandum lets vetted US firms conduct cyber-surveillance on foreign criminal networks with government approval, arguing AI's speed and scale demand pre-authorized public-private intervention powers.
"[A]n Unopposed Grant" of Sealing "Carries Little Weight in a Contested Posture"
Magistrate Judge Rachel Schwartz refused to seal LLC ownership disclosures in Townsend v. Gardens at Aldersgate, ruling generic privacy concerns do not justify secrecy and that a prior unopposed sealing order carried little weight.
Editor's noteSealing decisions shape what the public can ever learn about a case, and they are usually unopposed and unexamined. This ruling says an unopposed grant carries little weight once someone contests it, which is a small doctrinal point with wide practical reach.
Lion King Composer vs. Comedian Dispute Leads to ~$40K Attorney Fee Award Against Composer
A federal judge in California ordered Lion King composer Lebohang Morake to pay comedian Learnmore Mwanyenyeka roughly $39,560 in attorney fees after Morake dropped defamation claims following an anti-SLAPP motion.
Virginia Mom Gets 6-Month Suspended Jail Sentence for Letting 5-Year-Old Walk to the Pond
A Williamsburg, Virginia judge convicted law student Karyann Parkinson of child neglect for letting her 5-year-old walk half a mile alone, issuing a suspended six-month sentence and seven-year registry listing.
Editor's noteA suspended sentence sounds lenient until you read the second half. Seven years on a registry for letting a child walk half a mile is the actual penalty, and it is imposed by a standard no statute states, which is what makes this a policy story.
Statement: UNEP Report Warns World is Soon to Exceed 1.5°C ‒ but Return is Possible
UN Environment Programme's new report projects global warming will exceed 1.5C within years; World Resources Institute's David Waskow says emissions cuts, carbon removal and adaptation investment could still reverse the overshoot.
'Let data reign'; Trump warns that those who don't let AI data centers proliferate will end up 'backwards and poor'
President Trump urged communities to support AI data center expansion, arguing it drives jobs and economic growth, while critics cite energy use, water consumption, noise, environmental concerns, and pressure on local infrastructure.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul thinks AI should be ‘less evil’
New York Governor Kathy Hochul discussed conditions for lifting her data-center moratorium, surveillance concerns over Flock cameras, and enforcement gaps in the state's 3D-printed gun ban that a gunmaker says remain unenforceable.
The Future of Ukraine’s Drone Democracy
Ukraine's shift to domestic drone production, now 95% assembled internally, has broadened civilian and military influence over strategy, straining President Zelensky's authority after his contested dismissal of digital minister Mykhailo Fedorov.
Watch out with Dancing; It Might Lead to Sex
A federal judge ruled expert testimony on dance instruction's heightened sexual-misconduct risk is admissible in a Minnesota college's vicarious-liability case, addressing foreseeability standards after a student's assault allegations against a former instructor.
Editor's noteEvidentiary rulings rarely lead a section and this one should. Admitting expert testimony that a specific activity carries heightened risk changes what an institution can claim it could not have foreseen, and foreseeability is the whole of a vicarious liability claim.
Can Competition Fix American Healthcare?
Hoover Institution fellow Scott Atlas argues expanding market competition and consumer choice in U.S. healthcare could lower costs while preserving quality and innovation, contending current regulations insulate providers from price pressure.
China’s Fengwu AI Forecasted Typhoon Landfall Five Days Ahead
China is increasingly deploying AI weather forecasting systems such as Fengwu, Pangu, and Fuxi. Fengwu reportedly predicted a typhoon’s landfall five days ahead with high precision, highlighting AI’s growing role in extreme-weather forecasting.
