Overnight Regulation: Researchers sue EPA over advisory board rules | Consumer bureau to revisit mortgage, prepaid card rules | Court denies request to halt transgender recruiting | FCC proposes record fine on Sinclair

View in your browser     Welcome to Overnight Regulation, your daily rundown of news from the federal agencies, Capitol Hill, the courts and beyond. It's Thursday night, and the United Nations today voted to condemn Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. IN Washington, lawmakers are poised to pass a short-term spending bill to avoid a shutdown.   THE BIG STORY: Researchers and public health groups are suing the Trump administration to stop the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) policy blocking grant recipients from serving on advisory committees. The litigants say the policy, unveiled in October by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, violates government ethics standards, the federal law governing advisory committees and laws that created the specific committees. The lawsuit was filed Thursday in Washington, D.C., federal court by Earthjustice and Columbia University's Environmental Law Clinic, on behalf of Physicians for Social Responsibility, National Hispanic Medical Association, the International Society for Children's Health and Environment, Robyn Wilson, Joseph Árvai and Edward Avol. "EPA's effort to purge independent scientists from its advisory committees has harmful implications for the nation's health," Barbara Gottlieb, director of Physicians for Social Responsibility, said in a statement. Pruitt wrote the policy in an effort to address possible conflicts of interest among the dozens of external advisory boards at the EPA. Supporters of the policy say people who receive EPA grants would push for policies at the agency that further their financial interests. Timothy Cama has the story.   REGULATORY ROUNDUP Finance: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) said Thursday the agency will review and reconsider aspects of two rules issued by its former directer, Richard Cordray. Under acting Director Mick Mulvaney, the CFPB announced plans to revise rules issued by Cordray regarding mortgage data collection and prepaid credit cards. One of the revisions: The bureau will no longer assess penalties against mortgage lenders and banks for errors collected in data next year that is subject to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). The bureau also won't ask for lenders to resubmit such data if errors aren't "material" to the information provided. Sylvan Lane has more here.   Defense: A three-judge panel on a federal appeals court ruled Thursday against the Trump administration's efforts to delay accepting transgender recruits into the military. A two-paragraph order said Judges Diana Gribbon Motz, Albert Diaz and Pamela Harris on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Virginia are denying the administration's request to delay the Jan. 1 deadline, without further explanation. The decision sets up the case for a potential appeal to the Supreme Court. Context: The Pentagon is set to begin accepting transgender troops into the military Jan. 1 after court orders required it adhere to the date. That date was planned before President Trump announced he would ban transgender people from serving. Rebecca Kheel and Brandon Carter report.   Technology: The Federal Communications Commission has proposed to fine the Sinclair Broadcast Group $13.4 million for airing sponsored programming without disclosing its funders -- the largest such fine the agency has ever issued. The proposed fine comes more than a year after an anonymous tipster told the FCC that Sinclair-owned stations had been airing segments about the Huntsman Cancer Institute without disclosing that the group had been paying for the programming. The cancer research center was founded by Jon Huntsman Sr., a billionaire businessman and the father of U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman Jr. Harper Neidig has the story.   Finance: The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday charged a California man and his Florida-based group of companies with running a $1.2 billion investment scheme targeting vulnerable clients. Robert Shapiro allegedly used his Woodbridge Group of Companies to operate a scheme in which he promised customers consistent high returns on investments in small business loans, according to the SEC complaint. The SEC alleges that Shapiro promised more than 8,400 investors 5 to 10 percent interest annually on money he claimed his company would issue as loans. Shapiro allegedly promised the investors their money would go to loans issued to commercial property owners paying 11 to 15 percent interest rates. But the SEC alleges that Shapiro simply lent the money to other companies he owned, which paid no interest on the loans. More here from Sylvan Lane.   Energy: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said Thursday it would review its nearly two-decade-old policy for approving natural gas pipelines. While the commission did not commit to any particular changes, the announcement is a win for environmentalists who have long complained that FERC acts as a "rubber stamp" and approves too many gas lines. FERC Chairman Kevin McIntyre, who was a lawyer representing some of the companies that have applied for pipelines at the agency, announced the major initiative at the five-person commission's meeting, his first since being sworn in two weeks ago. Tim has the story.   Health: More Americans are dying from opioid overdoses, according to new data released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Life expectancy dipped for the second year in a row, from 78.7 years in 2015 to 78.6, according to the data, as the federal government and lawmakers work to respond to the epidemic of painkillers, heroin and synthetic drugs gripping the nation. Deaths from opioid overdoses increased nearly 28 percent, from roughly 33,000 in 2015 to more than 42,200 in 2016. It's the first time since 1962-1963 that life expectancy fell two years in a row. This story brought to you by me.   Finance: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be allowed to maintain a limited capital buffer to protect against possible losses, according to a new deal announced Thursday by the Treasury Department and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). The mortgage giants, which were taken over by the government in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, will each get a capital cushion of $3 billion starting Dec. 31, a day ahead of when their capital was expected to fall to zero. "Both the Treasury and the FHFA believe that a draw on the Treasury funding commitment may be required given tax reform legislation and the write-down of the deferred tax assets held on the balance sheets of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac," the Treasury Department said. Vicki Needham reports.     Defense: President Trump's nominee to be the Pentagon's health chief has withdrawn from consideration after a Senate panel stalled his confirmation over comments on gun control. "I am sorry not to be able to assist Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, whom I deeply respect, in building the best and most efficient military health-care system possible," Dean Winslow wrote in an op-ed in The Washington Post announcing his withdrawal. "I have the credentials to help, including 35 years of experience in the Air Force (including four deployments to Iraq and two to Afghanistan after 9/11), in military and academic medicine, and in private practice, public hospitals, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the pharmaceutical and diagnostics industries and public health. But unfortunately, I do not possess one credential the committee wanted to see: I do not support the unrestricted ownership of semiautomatic assault weapons by civilians." Winslow, who was nominated to be assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, had his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee last month -- days after a mass shooting in Texas in which the shooter was able to buy a gun despite being convicted in the military justice system of domestic violence. Rebecca with the story.   IN OTHER NEWS: US sanctions top Myanmar general, others under Magnitsky Act (The Hill) Greens launch ads against Trump environmental pick (The Hill) A tiny Caribbean island looks to lead in initial-coin-offering regulation (Bloomberg Big Law Business) Trump rail safety oversight in focus after Amtrak crash (Reuters)          Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for Regulation Newsletters     Forward Regulation Newsletters       Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  |  Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters   The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©2016 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Overnight Health Care: McConnell says Senate probably moving on from ObamaCare repeal | 8.8M sign up for ObamaCare | Second judge halts Trump rollback of birth control rule — Presented by The Children’s Hospital Association

View in your browser     McConnell: Senate probably moving on from ObamaCare repeal Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Thursday that the Senate will likely be moving on from ObamaCare repeal next year. "Well, we obviously were unable to completely repeal and replace with a 52-48 Senate," McConnell told NPR. "We'll have to take a look at what that looks like with a 51-49 Senate. But I think we'll probably move on to other issues." The Senate Republican leader will see his majority shrink to 51-49 once Alabama Democrat Doug Jones is seated in January. McConnell told NPR that Republicans have already taken the "heart" out of the health-care law by repealing ObamaCare's individual mandate in the tax legislation they passed this week. Read more here.     8.8 million sign up for ObamaCare, nearly matching last year Nearly 9 million people signed up for health insurance coverage through the federal ObamaCare exchanges, according to a top administration official. Last year, 9.2 million people signed up for coverage during an open enrollment period that was twice as long. Approximately 8.8 million people enrolled during the six-week open enrollment period in the 39 states that use the federal healthcare.gov website, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid administrator Seema Verma tweeted Thursday. The strong numbers come despite worries from Democrats and activists that the Trump administration was sabotaging the health-care law, and belie repeated claims from the administration that the law is failing. Read more here.   GOP includes $2.8B for children's health-care funding in stopgap bill House Republicans have included $2.85 billion to extend funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in a stopgap spending measure intended to prevent a government shutdown on Saturday. The funding provides money for CHIP through the end of March as the GOP faces criticism from Democrats, who argued Republicans were prepared to leave town without extending a program that provides support for 9 million children across the country. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has been giving states unused funds to help them keep their CHIP benefits afloat. Some states have sent letters or posted notices on their website warning families that, without new funding from Congress, their CHIP benefits could go away at the end of January. Read more here.   Second judge halts Trump rollback of ObamaCare birth control rule A federal judge in California has temporarily blocked the Trump administration's recent rules allowing moral and religious exceptions to ObamaCare's birth control requirement, the second time this week a court has ruled against the administration. Judge Haywood Gilliam Jr. granted the injunction Thursday in the District Court for the Northern District of California. The ruling comes on the heels of a similar injunction made by a federal judge in Pennsylvania last Friday. ObamaCare requires that most companies cover birth control as preventive care for women at no additional cost. The Trump administration rolled back the requirement earlier this year, arguing that it infringed on the religious and moral rights of some businesses. Read more here.   McConnell: Entitlement reform not on 2018 Senate agenda Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says entitlement reform is not on the agenda in 2018, despite what Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and senior Trump administration officials say. McConnell, speaking at an event sponsored by Axios on Thursday, said the lack of Democratic support for entitlement reform makes it highly unlikely that it will move through the Senate in an election year. "I think the Democrats are not going to be interested in entitlement reform so I would not expect to see that on the agenda," McConnell said. Read more here.         SPONSORED CONTENT   6 Million Kids Can’t Afford to Wait — Extend CHIP Now! The deadline to protect America’s Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP expired. Now, states are preparing to shut down programs – parents have even been notified their kids could lose coverage just after the holidays. Learn more.         What we're reading Testing for tainted marijuana challenges states (Stateline) Life expectancy in the U.S. is falling -- and drug overdose deaths are soaring (Stat)   State by state Iowa Medicaid provider hit with $1 million in penalties in its final six months (Des Moines Register) Texas, feds agree to renew Medicaid funds for safety net hospitals (Texas Tribune) Health officials expect Minnesota flu cases to rise (Star Tribune)   From The Hill's opinion pages  Congress, don't go home without preserving community health centers Pharmacy benefit managers should share more drug company discounts to consumers ObamaCare takes away any gains from tax reform     Send tips and comments to Jessie Hellmann, jhellmann@thehill.com; Peter Sullivan, psullivan@thehill.com; Rachel Roubein, rroubein@thehill.com; and Nathaniel Weixel, nweixel@thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @thehill, @jessiehellmann, @PeterSullivan4, @rachel_roubein, and @NateWeixel.         Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for Healthcare Newsletters     Forward Healthcare Newsletters       Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  |  Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters   The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©2016 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

Overnight Energy: Interior halts study on offshore safety | Researchers sue over EPA advisory board rules | Regulator considers changes to gas pipeline policy

View in your browser     INTERIOR HITS PAUSE ON SAFETY STUDY: The Trump administration has paused its funding for a major study meant to improve how regulators enforce offshore oil and natural gas drilling safety. The congressionally chartered National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine said Thursday that the Interior Department's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) sent a stop-work order for the study earlier this month. The National Academies had already gathered a committee of researchers for the study and conducted a meeting on the matter in October. "The National Academies are grateful to the committee members for their service and disappointed that their important study has been stopped," it said in a statement. BSEE spokesman Gregory Julian said the pause will allow the agency to evaluate whether the National Academies study is duplicating efforts already under way to improve its inspections. "As BSEE moves forward with implementing a risk-based inspection program to strengthen and improve its existing inspection program, the NAS study was paused by BSEE to allow time to ensure that there are no duplicate efforts," he said. Read more here.   RESEARCHERS SUE TO STOP EPA'S ADVISOR POLICY: Researchers and public health groups are suing the Trump administration to stop the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) policy blocking grant recipients from serving on advisory committees. The litigants say the policy, unveiled in October by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, violates government ethics standards, the federal law governing advisory committees and laws that created the specific committees. The lawsuit was filed Thursday in Washington, D.C., federal court by Earthjustice and Columbia University's Environmental Law Clinic, on behalf of Physicians for Social Responsibility, National Hispanic Medical Association, the International Society for Children's Health and Environment, Robyn Wilson, Joseph Árvai and Edward Avol. "EPA's effort to purge independent scientists from its advisory committees has harmful implications for the nation's health," Barbara Gottlieb, director of Physicians for Social Responsibility, said in a statement. "Losing top-flight academic researchers, and replacing them with industry-dependent voices, will undermine actions to protect us from toxic pollutants and life-threatening climate change. If EPA won't abandon this harmful approach, we're happy to take them to court," she said. EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox declined to comment, saying it's the agency's policy to avoid commenting on pending litigation. Read more here.   REGULATOR MULLS CHANGES TO GAS PIPELINE APPROVAL: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said Thursday it would review its nearly two-decade-old policy for approving natural gas pipelines. While the commission did not commit to any particular changes, the announcement is a win for environmentalists who have long complained that FERC acts as a "rubber stamp" and approves too many gas lines. FERC Chairman Kevin McIntyre, who was a lawyer representing some of the companies that have applied for pipelines at the agency, announced the major initiative at the five-person commission's meeting, his first since being sworn in two weeks ago. "1999 was quite a while ago, particularly in the natural gas pipeline area. So much has changed. So much has changed in our entire industry, of course, since then," McIntyre told reporters after the meeting, referring to the year that the current gas pipeline policy was set. "But it would be hard to find an area that has changed more than natural gas and our pipeline industry." McIntyre, a Republican, is referring to the initiative as a "fresh look," but he clarified that he is not currently proposing changes to any part of the process. "It's a matter, we believe, of good governance, to take a fresh look at this area, and to give all stakeholders and the public an opportunity to weigh in on what they believe should be changed to our existing policies," he said. Read more here.   NJ GOV-ELECT TAPS EX-EPA OFFICIAL: New Jersey governor-elect Phil Murphy (D) has tapped former EPA official Catherine McCabe to lead the state's environmental agency. McCabe was the deputy regional administrator for the EPA's New York City office, and served as acting administrator for the full agency in January and February between Trump's inauguration and Pruitt's confirmation. "It is time for New Jersey to lead again. We have no more time to waste," McCabe, 66, said Thursday, according to NorthJersey.com. "Now is the time to take action, both to help lead the way in slowing climate change, and adapting to make our communities more resilient." McCabe will be responsible for reversing many of the policies of the previous Republican administration. That includes implementing Murphy's plan to re-join New Jersey into the Regional Greenhouse Gas initiative.   PEBBLE TO APPLY FOR FEDERAL PERMIT: The Pebble Partnership plans Friday to formally submit an application for a federal Clean Water Act permit for its proposed Pebble Mine in southwest Alaska. The company, wholly owned by Northern Dynasty Minerals, can submit its application thanks to a Trump administration decision earlier this year to withdraw the EPA's attempt preemptively block the project. The proposed gold and copper mine has been controversial for years. Supporters say it would be an economic and employment boom with little environmental impact, while opponents say it would be disastrous to the ecosystem, including the large salmon population. Pebble said the footprint of the mine will be about 5.9 square miles, smaller than previous plans.   AROUND THE WEB: Georgia regulators voted Thursday to let a utility keep building the nuclear Plant Vogtle despite delays and cost overruns, the Augusta Chronicle reports. The Western Australia governor rejected a proposal to expand a major iron-ore mine, News.com.au reports. Memphis, Tenn.'s city government sold two parks to a nonprofit, leading officials to remove Confederate statues there, the Commercial Appeal reports.   IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Check out Thursday's stories ... - Trump administration halts funding for offshore drilling safety study - Researchers sue EPA over advisory committee policy - Pentagon's new defense strategy won't mention climate change - Regulators to consider changing gas pipeline approval policy - Greens launch ads against Trump environmental pick     Please send tips and comments to Timothy Cama, tcama@thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @Timothy_Cama, @thehill         Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for Energy Newsletters     Forward Energy Newsletters       Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  |  Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters   The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©2016 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.