Supreme Court's Alito pauses Texas law on illegal border crossings
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Monday temporarily blocked a judicial decision that would letaTexaslawtakeeffecttogivestateofficialsbroad powers to arrest, prosecute and order the removal ofpeoplewhoillegallycrosstheborderfromMexico.
Alito issued his order - requested by Democratic President JoeBiden's administration - aftertheNew Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Saturday paused a federal judge's ruling that had blocked the Republican-backed Texas law.
His order is set to expire on March 13 but he or the full Supreme Court could take further action before then. Alito handles certain emergency matters involving cases from a group of states including Texas.
The 5th Circuit ruling would have permitted the measure, known as SB4, to go into effect even as Biden's administration presses forward with a legal challenge claiming the statute unlawfully interferes with the federal government's enforcement of U.S. immigration laws.
Souce:
https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-court-pauses-block-texas-law-illegal-bordercrossings-2024-03-04/
Biden caps credit card late fees at $8, probes US healthcare takeovers
TheBidenadministrationonTuesdaysaidit would limit what banks can charge for late credit card payments and probe whether the private equity industry is making healthcare cost more for Americans, the latest crackdown on high consumer costs.
The Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) "strike force" will aim at illegal corporate behaviorthat hikes priceson Americans through anticompetitive or fraudulent business practices, administration officials said.
Separately, the FTC, the Justice Department and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will investigate the "impact of corporate greed in health care" focusing on transactions involving private equity.
It will probe how private equity deals "may increase consolidation and generate profits for firms while threatening patients’ health, workers’ safety, quality of care, and affordable health care for patients and taxpayers."
US House approves spending bill to avert government shutdown
The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed legislation funding a broad swath of the federal government through the fiscal year that began in October, as yet another threat of a partial shutdown looms.
The House voted 339-85 for the bill with 83 Republicansinopposition.ItnowgoestotheSenate for passage by Friday, before a midnight deadline when temporary funding expires for several Washington agencies.
This 1,050-page cluster of bills would keep programs running at huge federal bureaucracies, including the departments of Agriculture, Justice, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development. Also affected are construction projects at military bases and care for veterans.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson had to rely on support from opposition Democrats to get the massive legislation passed.
State of the Union: Biden to push wealth, company tax ideas
U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday will escalate a crusade to tax wealthy Americans and large companies more in his State of the Union address, proposing to hike corporate minimum taxes and curb executive pay and corporate jet deductions.
White House officials said Biden will preview the steps that will be part of a proposed fiscal 2025 budget released next week that aims to decrease the federal deficit by $3 trillion over 10 years while cutting taxes for low-income Americans.
The tax plans are expected to form a core part of the Democratic president's re-election campaign, contrasting with Republican candidate Donald Trump, who signed a 2017 law that slashed taxes on companies and the wealthy.
Souce:
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-house-aims-pass-spending-bill-avertweekend-government-shutdown-2024-03-06/
US Justice Dept to offer more rewards to corporate whistleblowers
The U.S. Justice Department is expanding its whistleblower program to coax more tipsters to disclose corporate misconduct by offering monetary rewards, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said on Thursday.
The Justice Department is already authorized to dole out awards for information that leads to forfeitures of assets, but the agency has used it sparingly. The plan now is to launch a Justice Department-run whistleblower rewards program later this year, Monaco said at a conference of lawyers on Thursday.
"The premise is simple: if an individual helps the Justice Department discover significant corporate or financial misconduct - otherwise unknown to us - then the individual could qualify to receive a portion of the resulting forfeiture," Monaco said at the American Bar Association's annual conference on white collar crime.
Souce:
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-justice-dept-offer-more-rewards-corporatewhistleblowers-2024-03-07/