Fannie/Freddie debt forgiveness authority remains unchanged, Cybersecurity Act fails to clear Senate, and more.
- The Cybersecurity Act (S. 3414) failed to win the 60 votes needed in the U.S. Senate to move the legislation forward.
- The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) said that it was rejecting arguments made by the Obama administration and members of Congress to authorize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to offer debt forgiveness to struggling borrowers.
- Cass Sunstein, the head of the Obama Administration’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, announces that he will be stepping down and returning to his academic position at Harvard.
- A Connecticut federal court added another ruling striking down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as unconstitutional.
- The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) urged Congress to require fuller disclosure and stricter standards for the $3.7 trillion municipal securities market to help protect investors.
- A D.C. District Court Judge ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) overstepped its powers by setting up water-quality criteria for coal mining operations in Appalachia.
- According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report, the rate of food-borne illnesses has not diminished even in the wake of regulatory measures.
- The U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee voted to shield U.S. airlines from a European Union (EU) law that makes all airlines pay for carbon they emit on flights to and from Europe.
- A federal judge in Arizona ruled that a state law (H.B. 2036) banning abortions starting at 20 weeks of pregnancy is constitutional, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has issued an injunction barring enforcement of the law pending appeal.
- The Apple Inc.-Samsung patent trial began, with Apple accusing Samsung of copying aspects of its mobile devices and seeking $2.525 billion in damages for harm to its business.
- Justice Antonin Scalia indicated in an interview that the Second Amendment may leave room for U.S. legislatures to regulate guns, including menacing hand-held weapons.
