Welcome to Overnight Regulations, your daily rundown of news from the federal agencies, Capitol Hill and the courts. It’s Thursday evening here in Washington where the focus is on a renewed debate over gun control.
THE BIG STORY
President Trump on Thursday signaled a dramatic shift on guns a day after he held an emotional listening session in the Oval Office with the families of victims and survivors of a mass shooting at a Florida high school.
In a torrent of morning tweets, the president for the first time expressed support for a range of policies that will put him at odds with the National Rifle Association (NRA), the powerful gun lobby that spent more than $30 million to help elect him in 2016.
Trump said he wants a total ban on bump stocks, the rifle attachment that allow guns to fire like automatic weapons. The president said he supports raising the age of purchase for long guns from 18 to 21 and that he will be “strongly pushing” for comprehensive background checks.
“Congress is in a mood to finally do something on this issue – I hope,” Trump tweeted.
It’s still unclear just how far Trump intends to go and the policy that seems to energize him the most — arming school officials who have been trained to handle firearms so they can shoot back at potential gunmen — is highly controversial.
But the president was clearly moved to action by his meeting with those who experienced the horror of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre in Parkland, Fla., which left 17 dead and more than a dozen wounded.
“I will always remember the time I spent today with courageous students, teachers and families,” Trump tweeted. “So much love in the midst of so much pain. We must not let them down.”
Read my story with Jonathan Easley here.
More on gun control…
Trump’s comments could also set him up for a fight with the NRA. More on that from Jonathan and me here.
Gun activists at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference went on the offensive, railing against new efforts to push gun control. Scott Wong and Ben Kamisar have that story from CPAC here.
Trump, though, insists he and the NRA are on the same page.
REG ROUNDUP
Technology: The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) order repealing net neutrality was published in the Federal Register Thursday morning, opening the door for supporters of the Obama-era rules to launch legislative and legal challenges.
The Republican-led FCC voted to repeal the consumer protections in December amid an outcry from internet users and activists worried that the move would give free rein to companies like Verizon and Comcast to disrupt the free flow of information online.
“As a result of the mess the agency created, broadband providers will now have the power to block websites, throttle services, and censor online content,” Democratic FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, who voted against the repeal, said in a statement on Thursday. “This is not right. The FCC is on the wrong side of history and the wrong side of the law and it deserves to have its handiwork revisited, reexamined, and ultimately reversed.”
Harper Neidig has the story here.
More tech: Twenty-two Democratic state attorneys general on Tuesday launched a lawsuit aimed at preserving net neutrality on Tuesday, after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published its rule striking the regulations in the Federal Register.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who is leading the suit along with other state attorneys generals, had previously filed a lawsuit, but they are refiling their case now that the order is eligible for legal challenge, following its official publication.
Their lawsuit hinges on the Administrative Procedure Act, which they argue prevents the FCC from “arbitrary and capricious” redactions to already existing policy.
“The FCC’s new rule fails to justify the Commission’s departure from its long-standing policy and practice of defending net neutrality while misinterpreting and disregarding critical record evidence on industry practices and harm to consumers and businesses,” a press release from Schneiderman’s office reads.
Ali Breland has more here.
Environment: Green groups are criticizing a potential pick for top White House environmental adviser.
Donald van der Vaart, the former secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, confirmed to The New York Times on Wednesday that he is being considered to lead the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ).
“While running North Carolina’s top environmental agency, van der Vaart opposed anything that got in the way of industry, including the EPA’s clean power and clean water initiatives,” Perrin de Jong, an attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement Thursday. “His well-documented anti-regulation, anti-wildlife, anti-science agenda makes him a perfect foot soldier to help Trump carry out his war on the environment.”
Miranda Green has the story here.
More environment: A Tennessee university is asking the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to at least temporarily disregard a study it conducted on pollution volumes from certain heavy trucks.
Tennessee Technological University president Philip Oldham told the EPA in a letter this week that “experts within the university have questioned the methodology and accuracy,” and the institution is investigating the matter, The New York Times reported.
At issue is the EPA’s proposal last year to rescind the Obama administration’s regulations on glider trucks, new truck bodies with older engines that previously were subject to the looser pollution rules in place when the old engines were manufactured.
Timothy Cama has the story here.
More environment: A pair of environmental groups representing public employees sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Thursday, claiming officials failed to adequately take and maintain public records in violation of federal law.
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a joint lawsuit against the EPA and Administrator Scott Pruitt for failing to keep records in accordance with the Federal Records Act (FRA).
The groups charge that the Trump administration operated in “secrecy” to avoid creating a paper trail of notes that would be considered public records under the FRA. Those notes would also be open to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests by the public and journalists.
More from Miranda Green here.
Cybersecurity: Federal officials are warning of a spike in phishing campaigns during the IRS’s tax filing season, particularly those targeting information from would-be victims’ W-2 forms.
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center issued an alert late Wednesday warning of an increase in W-2 phishing campaigns.
“This scam is just one of several new variations of IRS and tax-related phishing campaigns targeting W-2 information, indicating an increase in the interest of criminals in sensitive tax information,” the alert says.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has seen an increase in reports of compromised or forged emails asking targets to provide information about their W-2 since the beginning of the year, according to the alert.
Morgan Chalfant has the story here.
IN OTHER NEWS
NRA goes on the offensive after Parkland shooting, assailing media and calling for more armed school security – The Washington Post
Trump promotes arming teachers, but rejects active shooter drills – The New York Times
Companies could get more flexibility to launch IPOs –The Wall Street Journal
Food stamp crackdown? USDA wants ideas to get people off SNAP – Detroit Free Press
Trump’s call for more gun regulations boosts firearm stocks — Reuters
UK starts cryptocurrency inquiry as lawmakers weigh regulation — Bloomberg
As Washington retreats, what’s next for consumer finance regulation? — Marketwatch