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Wait, What? Administration Now Designates “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” as Not Economically Significant

Client Alert | 1 min read | 05.10.16

In a sign that the Obama Administration may be preparing to rush the publication of the FAR Council’s final rules implementing the “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” executive order so as to avoid timing problems associated with the Congressional Review Act, the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (responsible for reviewing the rules before sending them to the FAR Secretariat for publication, discussed here) now lists the new rules as not “Economically Significant.” That determination allows the administration to avoid the requirements under EO 12866 to provide a more detailed assessment of the likely benefits and costs of the regulatory action, but it reverses the administration’s prior designation of these burdensome new compliance and reporting obligations, and it seems at odds with the designation of other rules, such as “Serving Sizes of Foods That Can Reasonably Be Consumed at One Eating Occasion” and “Energy Efficiency Standards for Residential Dehumidifiers,” as Economically Significant.

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Client Alert | 4 min read | 06.25.26

Twin Executive Orders Seek to Spur Quantum Leap in Technology and Cybersecurity

On June 22, 2026, President Trump signed two executive orders, “Securing the Nation Against Advanced Cryptographic Attacks” (Quantum Security EO) and “Ushering in the Next Frontier of Quantum Innovation” (Quantum Innovation EO), marking the most significant federal action on quantum technology since the Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Preparedness Act of 2022, which directed agencies to harden their information systems against quantum-enabled hacking. The orders seek to speed the development of quantum computers, which are advanced processors that can calculate multiple possibilities simultaneously and thus solve problems exponentially faster than traditional computers. At the same time, the orders look to protect against the danger that quantum technology can “break” traditional encryption by easily decoding it. Of particular note for government contractors, the Quantum Security EO directs agencies to update federal acquisition regulations to require contractors by 2031 to adopt information processing standards that resist quantum-enabled codebreaking....

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