Administration Imposes Sweeping Limits on Federal Actions Against Companies

[muriel_volestrangler]

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has adopted new limits on the use of “guidance documents” that federal agencies have issued on almost every conceivable subject, an action that could have sweeping implications for the government’s ability to sue companies accused of violations.
...
In a footnote, the Trump administration makes clear that the new policy has broad ramifications: It applies to any civil lawsuits filed on behalf of the federal government to “impose penalties for violations of federal health, safety, civil rights or environmental laws.”

It also applies to cases in which the government asserts that health care providers or federal contractors defrauded the government by filing false or inflated claims.

Lawyers and lobbyists have been rushing to tell clients about the policy, which was issued on Jan. 25. Morgan Lewis, a global law firm, said in a bulletin for clients that it “provides needed relief” for regulated industries, “giving them greater opportunity to push back against enforcement theories” that rely on official guidance documents.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/10/us/politics/legal-violations-federal-rules.html

So this is basically the government tying one hand behind its back so that companies can endanger or rip off people that much easier, and they don't even have to hold an embarrassing vote in Congress to do it. Via Charles Pierce.

[underpants]

1. Mobsters hate the Feds

as do racists and polluters