Insights: Policy

Diesel Export Ban

The Trump administration appears close to announcing a package of steps aimed at addressing high diesel prices, even as the White House continues to say that diesel export restrictions are not currently under consideration. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said President Trump called her yesterday about diesel prices and that Energy Secretary...

Diagnostic Testing

The House Ways & Means Committee (W&M) unanimously approved the bipartisan Alzheimer’s Screening and Prevention (ASAP) Act (H.R. 6130), advancing the bill 40-0 after adopting a substantially revised version offered by Chairman Smith (R-MO). The legislation would create a new Medicare coverage pathway for blood-based tests used to detect...

Balance Billing

As lawmakers begin to explore potential reforms to the No Surprises Act (NSA), stakeholders are weighing in with preferred fixes to the law’s independent dispute resolution (IDR) process. On balance, the stakeholder center of gravity appears unfavorable to providers (i.e., employers, insurers, and conservative policy organizations are all...

Tech / Media / Telecom

AI Model Review

Warnings about AI safety and a commitment to slow down development of frontier models from Anthropic CEO Amodei, OpenAI’s Altman, Google DeepMind’s Hassabis, and xAI’s Musk generated widespread reaction in DC this week, with Congressional leaders acknowledging the need for legislative action to establish safeguards. There is already an active...

Trump/Xi Summit, Trade/Export Controls, AI

President Trump is scheduled to host Chinese Xi Jinping in DC next Thursday, 9/24. Secretary Bessent will meet his counterpart Vice Premier He Lifeng on Sunday in anticipation of the summit. Administration officials have signaled that their objective is to stabilize the economic relationship, extend the suspension of tariffs and rare earths...

CLARITY Act, SEC/CFTC Regulation

The Senate is scheduled to hold a procedural vote on the CLARITY Act (market structure legislation) tomorrow (Tues, 9/15). The White House has reportedly signed off on ethics language that is related to what was proposed by Sens. Tillis (R-NC) and Gallego (D-AZ) in early August. Republicans released a new draft of the bill which includes the...