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Bah Humbug: Appropriations Bill Contains Lump of Coal for DoL on "Fair Pay" Funding

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 12.21.15

The FY 2016 Omnibus Appropriations bill, passed on December 18, 2015, did not appropriate funds to establish an Office of Labor Compliance within DoL to implement the "Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces" Executive Order, as requested by the Obama Administration. By declining to appropriate the requested funds, Congress pumped the brakes on the implementation of the EO, which, as described here, would impose burdensome compliance and reporting obligations on federal contractors and subcontractors.

Insights

Client Alert | 3 min read | 06.26.25

FDA Targets Gene Editing Clinical Trials in China and other “Hostile Countries”

In a somewhat ambiguous press release on Wednesday, June 18, 2025, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a halt and “immediate review” of new clinical trials where American patients’ cells are sent to China or other “hostile countries” for genetic engineering with the expectation that the cells will be infused back into U.S. patients.[1] A subsequent podcast published by the agency also said that therapies that involved cells that were sent to China for genetic engineering and intended for subsequent infusion into U.S. patients would not be approved going forward. The announcement said that there is “mounting evidence” that some clinical researchers failed to obtain informed consent from trial participants about the international transfer and manipulation of biological material....