James Arkin
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Editing Congress news @BGov. Past work: Law360/Politico/RCP. 2X @medillschool alum. 90s music enthusiast. Sitcom aficionado. Avid moviegoer. Proud Ohioan
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Articles by James Arkin
Thune Tees Up Senate Action on Labor Secretary Pick Sonderling Original
Sept. 29, 2026, 9:59 AM UTC Senate Majority Leader John Thune filed a procedural motion late Monday setting up floor consideration of Keith Sonderling’s nomination to permanently lead the Labor Department. Thune (R-S.D.)'s move tees up an initial vote on Sonderling’s nomination as soon as Wednesday, though it could happen sooner if senators agreed to expedite it.
House Again Rejects Trump Impeachment Effort From Texas Democrat
Sept. 15, 2026, 8:55 PM UTC The House on Tuesday once again voted to set aside a resolution to impeach President Donald Trump, with nearly all Republicans opposed to the effort and dozens of Democrats voting present to allow the measure to be tabled. Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) triggered the vote by introducing a privileged impeachment resolution (H. Res.
BGOV Hill Watch Live: The Pre-Election Agenda Original
Sept. 15, 2026, 5:01 PM UTC Lawmakers have kicked off their final legislative sprints before the midterm elections. The House is in its last scheduled week, with plans to act on more than 70 bills, including ones on data center energy usage (H.R. 9340; Analysis), Russia sanctions (H.R. 5334; Analysis), and water projects (H.R. 9497; Analysis).
House Ethics Weighs Allegations Against Democrat Jimmy Gomez
Aug. 17, 2026, 6:52 PM UTC The House Ethics Committee is investigating whether California Democrat Jimmy Gomez engaged in sexual misconduct in violation of the chamber’s rules. The committee is reviewing allegations that Gomez violated the House’s code of conduct, including by engaging in inappropriate sexual contact with a House staff member, according to a statement Monday from Chairman Michael Guest (R-Miss.) and Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.), the panel’s ranking member.
House Ethics Weighs Allegations Against Democrat Jimmy Gomez
The House Ethics Committee is investigating whether California Democrat engaged in sexual misconduct in violation of the chamber’s rules. The committee is reviewing allegations that Gomez violated the House’s code of conduct, including by engaging in inappropriate sexual contact with a House staff member, according to a statement Monday from Chairman (R-Miss.) and Rep. (D-Calif.), the panel’s ranking member.
Missouri Supreme Court Upholds Republican Congressional Lines
Missouri’s Supreme Court upheld a Republican-drawn congressional map designed to deliver the party an additional House district in the November election. The state’s top court held Tuesday that challengers failed to prove the map violated the Missouri Constitution’s compactness requirements. The map, which Missouri’s GOP-dominated government enacted last year with support from President Donald Trump, splintered the Kansas City-based 5th District of Rep.
White House Urges Congress to End Recess, Resume DHS Talks (1)
The White House is urging Congress to cut its two-week recess short and return to Washington to continue negotiating the partial shutdown facing the Homeland Security Department. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that President Donald Trump wants the House and Senate to come back to fully fund DHS, as the shutdown drags on for more than six weeks.
GOP Leaders Push Scandal-Plagued Gonzales to End Reelection (1)
House Republican leaders are urging Texas GOP Rep. to drop his reelection bid after he admitted to having an affair with a late staff member, they said in a statement Thursday. Speaker (R-La.) and the next three highest-ranking House Republicans said in the joint statement that they’ve “encouraged” Gonzales to address the “very serious allegations” with his constituents, and have asked him to withdraw from reelection.
Immigration Raids to Continue as Shutdown Threatens Cyber, FEMA
Cybersecurity coordination, disaster aid to states, and pay for tens of thousands of federal workers are at risk while immigration enforcement will remain unhindered as the Department of Homeland Security barrels toward a shutdown. Negotiations in Congress are deadlocked over immigration policy demands and enforcement guardrails Democrats have insisted on before advancing an annual funding bill for DHS.
Johnson’s Leadership Suffers Blow as GOP Rebellion Scuttles Vote
Three Republicans split with their party to derail a procedural vote and effectively freeze the House floor Tuesday in a revolt against GOP leaders’ efforts to block politically tricky votes on President ’s economic policies. Reps. (Ky.), (Neb.), and (Calif.) voted against a rule to allow consideration of a critical minerals bill ( ) and other legislation, which failed 214-217.
House Rule Vote Delayed as GOP Threatens Revolt on Tariffs (1)
House GOP leaders delayed a procedural vote by seven hours Tuesday as some Republican members threatened to revolt over a leadership push to block politically tricky votes on President ’s economic policies. The rule vote, which would allow debate and votes on bills unrelated to tariffs, includes language blessed by Speaker (R-La.) that would block members from triggering Trump tariff votes until July 31.
Hurdles Await in House After Senate Passes Spending Agreement
The Senate passed a deal to fund the government Friday but lawmakers must navigate other obstacles to quickly end a likely partial shutdown and reach an agreement on immigration enforcement policy changes Democrats are demanding. The Senate passed the agreement on a 71-29 bipartisan vote just hours before the expiration of funding for the government’s largest agencies at the end of Friday. But House lawmakers aren’t in Washington and aren’t scheduled to return until Feb.
GOP Spikes Legislation Widening Tipped Worker Wage Loophole (2)
House Republican leaders yanked votes on two labor bills, including one expanding which tipped workers earn below minimum wage, after swing-district lawmakers delivered a surprise defeat to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.). The House on Tuesday failed to pass the Flexibility for Workers Education Act ( , under which employers would be able to hold voluntary job-related trainings after hours without compensating employees if the training took place outside the worker’s normal hours.
DC Circuit Rejects Newman’s En Banc Petition in Suspension Case Original
The DC Circuit rejected Judge Pauline Newman’s request to rehear her appeal challenging her suspension from hearing new cases at the Federal Circuit. The appeals court denied Newman’s en banc petition in a one-page, two-sentence per curiam order issued Monday. Newman, 98 and the nation’s oldest active federal judge, was suspended from hearing new cases at the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in 2023 as the court launched an investigation into her mental fitness.
San Francisco, Oakland Near Settlement of Airport Name Fight (1)
The cities of San Francisco and Oakland reached a tentative settlement of their trademark dispute over Oakland’s renaming of its airport to “San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport.” The parties reached an agreement after a Dec. 16 mediation session lasting more than 12 hours and are now waiting for final approval on the deal, according to a stipulation filed Wednesday.
Two More Unions to Push District Court to Block Trump CBA Order
Unions for employees at two federal agencies are the next to attempt to convince a district judge to temporarily block President ‘s cancellation of their collective bargaining agreements, despite previous union wins being quickly unwound on appeal. The Patent Office Professional Association and National Weather Service Employees Organization will make their case Wednesday to join at least three unions that have won temporary relief from Trump’s executive orders. Judge Paul L.
Litigation Funder Archetype Wins Injunction Against Co-Founder
Litigation funder Archetype Capital Partners won a court order barring its co-founder from using the firm’s proprietary systems for mass tort cases while its lawsuit accusing him of stealing trade secrets proceeds.
Oakland’s ‘S.F. Bay’ Airport Name Seems to Split 9th Circuit (1)
Judges on a Ninth Circuit panel appeared divided on whether to undo an injunction prohibiting Oakland from renaming its airport “San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport” while a trademark infringement lawsuit brought by San Francisco progresses. “You have Washington Dulles, Washington National and Baltimore/Washington and, in general, people don’t seem to be confused by that,” said Senior Judge Danny J. Boggs during oral argument Monday, sitting by designation from the Sixth Circuit.
Masimo Wins $634 Million in Apple Watch-Alerts Patent Trial (1)
must pay Masimo Corp. $634 million, Masimo announced, after a California federal jury found Apple Watch’s heart-rate alerts infringed a patent for heart- and oxygen-monitoring technology in the latest flashpoint in the companies’ long-running battle over health-tracking. Jurors found that the smartwatch’s functions that notify wearers of unusually high or low heart rates infringed Masimo’s US patent No. 10,433,776, Masimo announced in Nov. 14 statement.
Judge Flames Firm Luring Authors Out of $1.5 Billion AI Pact (2)
A federal judge accused a third-party law firm of attempting to “trick” authors out of their record $1.5 billion copyright class action settlement with Anthropic PBC. Judge William Alsup called ClaimsHero’s tactics to lure authors away from the deal “a fraud of immense proportions” during a Thursday hearing in San Francisco. He demanded the company alter its “misleading” communications with potential claimants.
OpenAI Balks at Order to Produce 20 Million ChatGPT Logs (1)
is asking a court to reconsider its order forcing the company to produce 20 million ChatGPT user conversations in a landmark copyright lawsuit it’s fighting against newspapers including Magistrate Judge Ona T. Wang’s order “overruled” concerns associated with producing troves of user chats and didn’t discuss the relevance or proportionality of the request, OpenAI wrote in a letter asking to vacate the order filed Wednesday in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Federal Circuit Gets First Crack at State ‘Patent Troll’ Laws
An appeals court will hear the first constitutional challenge of a state law designed to curb abusive practices by companies derisively called “patent trolls,” with implications for dozens of states with similar laws. A three-judge panel on the patent-focused US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit will hear oral argument Nov. 10 in an appeal from Dallas-based Longhorn IP LLC and its patent-assertion unit Katana Silicon Technologies LLC.
Crocs Aims to Flip ITC Ruling, Widen IP Reach at Federal Circuit
will press the Federal Circuit Thursday to bless its use of trade dress to fortify the diminished intellectual property protection around its iconic foam clogs, years after its design patents expired. The company is appealing a split International Trade Commission ruling it says wrongly found shoes imported by competitors including Orly Shoe Corp. and Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. didn’t infringe its footwear trade dress registrations.
Apple Watch Patent Trial to Turn on Storytelling, Not Sensors
A California jury begins hearing arguments Tuesday in the years-long clash between and Masimo Corp. over whether Apple Watch health-sensor features infringed a Masimo patent—a fight that partly turns on whether the device is wellness tech or medical equipment. The trial in the US District Court for the Central District of California centers on an expired patent covering blood-oxygen and heart-rate monitoring technology.
OpenAI Legal Chief Moves Nimbly When Copyright Backlash Hits (1)
Ask Che Chang, the legal chief for OpenAI, what keeps him up at night, and his first answer follows a general counsel’s boilerplate script: how best to advise and guide other teams to meet the company mission and goals. But then, after reflecting, Chang adds something weightier, capturing the more cosmic and pressing questions about a company, and an industry, that aims to reshape generations to come.
OpenAI Legal Chief Moves Nimbly When Copyright Backlash Strikes
Ask Che Chang, the legal chief for OpenAI, what keeps him up at night, and his first answer follows a general counsel’s boilerplate script: how best to advise and guide other teams to meet the company mission and goals. But then, after reflecting, Chang adds something weightier, capturing the more cosmic and pressing questions about a company, and an industry, that aims to reshape generations to come.
Apple Hit With AI Copyright Lawsuit Filed by ‘Lady Emily’ Author
willfully infringed millions of copyrighted works to build its Apple Intelligence AI product, an author alleged Wednesday in a federal lawsuit. Tasha Alexander accused Apple of downloading pirated copies of works to train AI models, consequently displacing and diluting the market for authors, in a proposed class action complaint filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.
Supreme Court’s Patent Drought Leaves Key Debates Unresolved
The US Supreme Court’s refusal to hear new patent cases for nearly three years has frustrated parties that suffer appellate losses and left the Federal Circuit as the final arbiter over legal disputes that divide the patent bar. The justices have turned away more than 60 petitions for writs of certiorari from patent owners and targets of patent suits since it last took such a case in November 2022, according to a Bloomberg Law review of dockets.
Campbell’s Soup Files Trade Dress Suit Over Political Campaign
sued Shelby Nicole Campbell and her campaign for heavily utilizing its famous soup can trade dress in promotional materials as part of her bid for a seat in Congress. The Democrat has heavily leaned into her shared name with the brand by distributing stickers and making online posts featuring iconic trade dress, according to the complaint filed Oct. 10 in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Supreme Court Asked to Find Copyright Law Permits AI Authors
Computer scientist Stephen Thaler asked the US Supreme Court to find work created by an AI system without direct contribution from a human author can be copyrighted. Nothing in the law bars Thaler’s “Creativity Machine” from being deemed the author of a registered copyright for the work “A Recent Entrance to Paradise,” Thaler argued in a petition for certiorari filed Thursday at the US Supreme Court.
Apple Accused of AI Copyright Infringement by SUNY Professors
flouted copyright law when it used pirated materials and copies of e-books sold on its own books app to train its AI tool Apple Intelligence, a pair of State University of New York professors alleged in a federal lawsuit. Apple’s OpenELM model, one of several comprising Apple Intelligence, was trained on datasets including a pirated database called Books3 that contains the professors’ works, Susana Martinez-Conde and Stephen L.
Patent Chief’s Early Opinion Emphasizes Pro-AI Innovation Push
US Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires signaled an eagerness to encourage patenting AI innovations by striking down a tribunal’s line of reasoning he warned would render much of the technology unprotectable. “Categorically excluding AI innovations from patent protection in the United States jeopardizes America’s leadership in this critical emerging technology,” Squires said in a ruling issued Sept. 26, four days after he was sworn in.
Patent Office Lays Off Staff as Government Shutdown Begins (2)
The US Patent and Trademark Office laid off certain employees early Wednesday as a part of a reduction-in-force plan, according to multiple sources. The PTO laid off some employees on teams including the communications team, office of public engagement, and patents unit, according to five sources familiar with the matter who spoke with Bloomberg Law on the condition of anonymity. The move comes as the federal government shut down Wednesday due to a funding impasse.
X.AI Suit Brings Trade Secrets Litigation to Fertile Ground
The trade secrets lawsuit X.AI filed against a former engineer heralds an aggressive approach from generative AI companies in a landscape driven by exploding revenues and a competitive hunt for top talent.
Fired Copyright Chief Temporarily Regains Her Job During Appeal
A split D.C. Circuit temporarily reinstated Shira Perlmutter as head of the Copyright Office while she appeals for a preliminary injunction in her suit alleging the Trump administration’s firing of her was an illegal power-grab. Perlmutter demonstrated that her firing constituted a “genuinely extraordinary situation” that should have informed the lower court’s irreparable harm analysis, according to the opinion issued Wednesday by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Newman Lawyer Who Battled DOJ Takes Senior Job at the Agency (1)
Greg Dolin, the lawyer who represented suspended Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman as she sought reinstatement, announced Monday he’s joined the Department of Justice as a senior counsel. Dolin, a former clerk to the 98-year-old suspended judge, took on his old boss as a client while at the New Civil Liberties Alliance. He represented Newman in her May 2023 suit against Chief Judge Kimberly A.
‘Mockingbird’ Copyright Appeal Seeks Rare Arbitration Reversal
Harper Lee’s estate will ask the Seventh Circuit Friday for a rare reversal of an arbitration ruling, arguing that barring it from reclaiming non-Broadway stage rights to her novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” undercuts a core tenant of copyright law. Dramatic Publishing LLC convinced an arbitrator that the “derivative works exception” to Lee’s termination rights lets it not only keep exploiting its stage adaptation of Lee’s book but also block others from doing the same.
Trump, Patent Office Chief Face Second Union Lawsuit Over CBA
The National Treasury Employees Union sued President Donald Trump to challenge the legality of his executive order canceling union contracts for some federal employees, joining two other labor organizations in filing complaints alleging the order was unconstitutional. NTEU’s lawsuit focused on the impact of Trump’s Aug. 28 executive order on employees at the US Patent and Trademark Office, according to its Wednesday complaint filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
Patent Chief Downplays Widespread Change After Trump Tosses CBA
Leadership at the US Patent and Trademark Office sought to tamp down fears of significant change at the agency, such as widespread return to office mandates, the day after President Donald Trump nullified union protections for over half its employees.
Apple Watch Import Ban Work-Around Suit Tests Customs’ IP Role
The seizure of five Apple Watches at the Port of Chicago in July set off a chain of events that escalated to US Customs and Border Protection headquarters in Washington—and to a lawsuit that could reshape the agency’s role in patent fights at the border. That interdiction led to an Aug. 1 internal advice ruling from CBP headquarters clearing ’s work-around of an import ban handed down by the US International Trade Commission after medical-device maker Masimo Corp.
DC Circuit Rejects Judge Newman’s Appeal in Suspension Case (2)
The DC Circuit affirmed the dismissal of Judge Pauline Newman’s lawsuit challenging her suspension from hearing cases at the Federal Circuit for refusing to sit for an independent psychological examination. A three-judge panel said it could only consider Newman’s facial challenge to the constitutionality of the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act and not how the law was applied by Newman’s fellow judges in their investigation into her mental acuity.
Trump’s Attack on Harvard’s Patents Hits at Decades-Old IP Model
The Trump administration’s threat to take control of Harvard University’s patents risks upending a decades-old partnership between the federal government and research universities that backers say has fueled inventions and cemented US technological dominance. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick gave Harvard until Sept. 5 to prove its compliance with the 1980 Bayh-Dole Act, which allows universities to own intellectual property for technology invented with the aid of government money.
Judge’s ‘Schedule A’ Rebuke Reignites Anti-Counterfeiting Debate
A Chicago-based federal judge amplified criticism of a common mass-litigation practice against counterfeiters when he rebuked colleagues—and himself—for rubber-stamping tactics he said likely eviscerate due process protections. Combating widespread infringement on marketplace platforms such as is a worthy end that doesn’t justify the means regularly deployed in what’s called “Schedule A” litigation, Judge John F. Kness said in an August ruling.
Patent Judges Review Fewer Challenges as Agency Priorities Shift
The US Patent and Trademark Office dramatically shifted its administrative tribunal’s mandate in the early months of the Trump Administration, limiting the number of patent challenges judges review and repositioning the board to be less central to intellectual property disputes.
Federal Worker Unions Short on Options During Trump Policy Blitz
Federal workers and their unions hold a shrinking arsenal of methods to fight the Trump administration’s moves to cut the public workforce after appeals courts rebuffed efforts to halt the government’s actions and federal labor panels were left deadlocked and overwhelmed with thousands of new cases. The US Supreme Court and multiple appellate courts knocked down injunctions against President Donald Trump’s mandates to restructure the government and strip collective bargaining rights from workers.
Lutnick-Backed Patent Value Fee Proposal Blasted by Lawyers (1)
Business groups, patent lawyers, and an advocate for inventors slammed a reported plan by the Commerce Department to impose billions of dollars in new patent fees, calling it impractical and potentially beyond the powers of the executive branch.
Lutnick-Backed Patent Fees Proposal Blasted by Lawyers, Chamber
Business groups, patent lawyers, and an advocate for inventors slammed a reported plan by the Commerce Department to impose billions of dollars in new patent fees, calling it impractical and potentially beyond the powers of the executive branch.
Federal Circuit Panel Seeks Added Suspension of Judge Newman
Judges at the Federal Circuit recommended suspending their colleague Judge Pauline Newman, the nation’s oldest active federal judge, for a third time, arguing she’s stonewalled investigators looking into whether she’s suffering from a disability.
Authors’ Copyright Class Action Certified Against Anthropic
A federal judge certified a class of authors whose books Anthropic PBC is accused of infringing by downloading them from pirated websites as it built repositories for its AI model. Judge William Alsup granted certification to authors whose books are in two pirate libraries—LibGen and PiLiMi—from which Anthropic has been accused of illegally downloading material, according to an order filed Thursday in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.
DSW Faces Tough Odds in Suit Testing Social Media Music Rules
Footwear retailer DSW has a difficult task in its battle with record label behemoths seeking to reset copyright rules for businesses using music on social media. DSW Shoe Warehouse Inc., its parent company Designer Brands Inc., and DBI subsidiary Topo Athletic LLC filed a declaratory judgment suit in Ohio federal court last week accusing Sony Music Entertainment and UMG Recordings Inc. of unfairly threatening copyright litigation over music used in social media posts.
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