Legislative Highlights

Legislative Highlights 119th Congress to Commence on January 3, 2025 The 119th Congress will commence on Jan. 3 at noon with both the Senate and House of Representatives under control of Republicans following the 2024 election. 1 On Nov. 13, Senate Republicans elected 2

Legislative Highlights House Democrats Reintroduce “Student Borrower Bankruptcy Relief Act of 2024” As the Department of Education’s student loan repayment “on ramp” expired on Sept. 30, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Subcommittee

Legislative Highlights Federal Reserve Proposes Scaled-Back Bank Capital Requirements Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr on Sept. 10 unveiled changes to a proposed set of U.S. banking regulations that roughly cuts in half the extra capital that the

Legislative Highlights Legislation Aims to Deter “Texas Two-Step” Maneuver in Bankruptcy U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), and Representatives Emilia Sykes (D-Ohio) and Lance Gooden (R-Texas), on July 23 introduced the “Ending Corporate

Legislative Highlights Number of Borrowers Utilizing New Student Loan Discharge Process Continues to Increase The Justice Department, in close coordination with the Department of Education, announced 1 on July 17 that the vast majority of student loan borrowers seeking

Legislative Highlights “Corporate Crimes Against Health Care Act of 2024” Introduced in Response to Steward Health Care Bankruptcy Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) on June 11 introduced a new bill 1 aiming to crack down on “private equity abuse in the

Legislative Highlights Senate Leaders Take Different Legislative Paths to Curb ‘Judge-Shopping’ Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on April 10 each introduced legislation that would alter how certain cases

Legislative Highlights U.S. Judicial Conference Aims to Promote Random Case Assignment The Judicial Conference of the United States on March 12 proposed strengthening the policy governing random case assignment, limiting the ability of litigants to effectively choose

Legislative Highlights Senators, State AGs Submit Amicus Briefs Calling for Supreme Court to Reject Georgia-Pacific’s Bankruptcy Maneuver Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and fellow Senate Judiciary Committee colleagues Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse

Legislative Highlights Supreme Court Appears Disinclined to Pay Refunds for Overpayment of U.S. Trustee Fees The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument on Jan. 9 1 in Office of the U.S. Trustee v. John Q. Hammons Fall 2006 LLC 2 to decide whether chapter 11 debtors are