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.
Bill to scrap education requirements in federal contracting jobs heads to Trump’s desk
A bipartisan House-passed bill from Rep. Nancy Mace, now cleared unanimously by the Senate, would stop agencies from setting minimum education requirements in federal contract solicitations unless they justify them in writing as mission-critical; it awaits President Trump's signature.
ALJ Recommends Dismissing Administrative Charges Against Florida Teacher for Kirk-Related and Trump-Related Posts
A Florida administrative law judge recommended dismissing misconduct charges against a teacher over Facebook posts referencing Charlie Kirk's killing and an image depicting Trump, finding no evidence students saw the posts or that school operations were disrupted.
Editor's noteFacebook posts by a teacher are not a disruption to school operations unless students see them. Watch whether the school's social media monitoring policies are reviewed in light of this ruling, as they may need to be more explicit about what constitutes a breach of professional conduct.
GSA claims it found $1.2B in suspected COVID-related contracting fraud
The General Services Administration says it found 1.2 billion dollars in suspected fraud across COVID-era contracts that kept paying out after the national emergency ended in 2023.
"Is Trump Media's Early-Access Feed Lawful?"
Legal scholars debate whether Trump Media's paid early-access feed to presidential posts, priced up to $100,000 monthly, effectively lets subscribers trade on nonpublic presidential information before the public sees it.
Editor's notePaid early access to a head of state's posts is a securities question wearing a media product's clothes. The price is the tell: a hundred thousand a month is not a subscription, it is an information advantage being sold. Watch whether the SEC treats it as one.
Chief Justice Roberts Goes Postal on Trump's USPS Rule
The Supreme Court denied the Trump administration's emergency stay request in USPS v. California, letting a lower court injunction against a USPS rule stand, with minimal explanation from Roberts.
Editor's noteEmergency docket rulings arrive without reasoning, which is exactly why this one matters. The court declined to lift an injunction against the administration and said almost nothing about why, leaving lower courts and the Postal Service to read a result that carries no stated rule with it.
Taiwan’s Six-Year Hunt for China’s Undercover Chip Labs
Taiwan's Investigation Bureau examined 166 cases over six years involving companies concealing Chinese ownership in the chip sector, producing dozens of convictions including Xiaomi executives and a warrant for OnePlus's founder.
Editor's noteExport control is usually reported as policy. This reports it as enforcement: one hundred and sixty-six cases, six years, convictions of named executives and an outstanding warrant. That is what the rules look like when a state actually runs them, and the record is unusually specific.
Will It Matter That ABA Council Repealed The DEI Standard?
The American Bar Association's council voted 10-6 to repeal its DEI accreditation standard for law schools, though commentators expect little practical change since institutions may continue similar practices voluntarily.
Editor's noteA ten to six vote to repeal an accreditation standard sounds decisive and may change very little. That gap is the story: schools can carry on voluntarily, so the practical question is not what the council decided but who was relying on the standard being mandatory.
Alienation of Affections as Complicity
Responding to commenters on a suit against a former senator, the writer rejects the claim that a spouse's lover owes nothing, while still favouring abolition of the tort on other grounds.
Do You Have the Right To Possess an AR-15? The Supreme Court Will Soon Decide.
The Supreme Court will decide next term whether bans on so-called assault weapons survive the Second Amendment, a ruling that would reach the dozen states with such laws and further.
Editor's noteThe court has stepped around this question for years, which is the reason to read the case now rather than after the ruling. A dozen state legislatures will be redrafting in the same week it lands, and the reasoning will matter more than the outcome for every other limit on what residents may own.
A Liberal Think Tank and an Air Force Major Are Trump's Latest Targets for Speech Policing
President Trump has targeted critics' speech through a threatened defamation lawsuit against the Center for American Progress and military charges against Air Force Maj. Jason Watson for anti-Trump statements.
Trump blasts data center critics: Backwards and poor
President Trump called communities opposing data centers backwards and poor, defending the AI infrastructure boom as the EPA proposed dropping public-notice requirements for industrial air-pollution permits near such projects.
Editor's noteThe quote will travel and the second half matters more. A proposal to drop public-notice requirements for air-pollution permits near these sites removes the mechanism those communities would use to object, which turns a rhetorical dismissal into a procedural one.
New US export controls reportedly target Chinese access to remote AI servers — Trump admin's cut-down AI diffusion rule could be shared with industry as soon as September
The Trump administration is reportedly preparing new export controls aimed at preventing Chinese firms from accessing advanced U.S. AI computing power through overseas cloud and data-center infrastructure, closing a key loophole in existing chip-export restrictions.
DISA starting small in proving out Mission Partner Environment capabilities
DISA's Mission Partner Environment portfolio executive plans to test and expand capabilities at INDOPACOM through initial pilot deployments before broader implementation.
White House signing deals with private hackers to combat cybercrime
The Trump administration issued a presidential memorandum authorizing private companies to conduct cyber surveillance and offensive operations against transnational criminal organizations under federal oversight and coordination.
Are rising bond yields and elevated leverage a recipe for market turmoil?
Rising bond yields combined with elevated leverage levels may create financial instability, raising concerns about potential market disruption and economic consequences from higher borrowing costs.
Flock is tightening its rules in response to a growing surveillance backlash
Flock, a police license plate reader company, is requiring criminal case numbers for location searches and expanding auditing systems in response to surveillance backlash. At least 30 cities dropped contracts amid privacy concerns.
ICE agents could soon use gloves that give painful electric shocks
The Department of Homeland Security plans to distribute electric shock gloves called G.L.O.V.E. to ICE agents by March 2025, with spending up to $20 million. Over 700 local law enforcement agencies already use the device.
The missing component of government AI deployment: Trust
Government agencies should integrate verification mechanisms into AI system architecture to effectively deploy advanced AI tools for critical missions and operations.
DoD eyes accounting reforms to lower barriers for commercial firms
The Pentagon is seeking industry recommendations for contract accounting modifications designed to decrease compliance expenses and reduce obstacles for commercial firms working with the Department of Defense.
AI Confusion: Washington Struggles to Respond to China
US policymakers debate whether to restrict Chinese AI models through export controls and sanctions or allow competition. Startups increasingly adopt cheaper Chinese alternatives like DeepSeek and Qwen over expensive proprietary models.
Analysis: Weaker EV targets could cost UK consumers £3bn a year by 2030
UK government considers weakening electric vehicle sales targets for 2030 from 80% to 50%, which analysis suggests could cost consumers £3 billion annually and increase oil imports by 8%.
How the “censorship-industrial complex” is changing the Internet and US policy
A State Department office monitoring foreign disinformation was shut down after being accused of participating in a censorship-industrial complex allegedly suppressing conservative speech online under the guise of combating misinformation.
Editor's noteWe ran this from MIT Technology Review because it describes an institution being dismantled, not an argument being won. Whatever the office did or did not do, its absence changes who watches foreign influence operations in an election year. For policy readers the question is what replaces it, and whether anyone is funded to.
How Spain’s Migration Surge Tested EU Border Policy
Spain experienced unprecedented migrant arrivals in North African territory, serving as the first test of the EU's new migration pact and reigniting immigration debates across the bloc.
Editor's noteThe first live test of the EU’s migration pact happened on Spanish territory in North Africa, not in Brussels, and that is why it led Public Policy. A framework agreed in principle now has to survive a real surge and a real election cycle. Watch which member states invoke the pact’s solidarity clauses first.
