Trump’s Pick For Commerce Secretary May Have The Biggest Conflicts Of Them All

Wilbur Ross has made a fortune in steel — and the Commerce Department will soon make decisions that will affect his firms.

Derek Kravitz
By Derek Kravitz
Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross talks with reporters in the lobby of Trump Tower, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Many of President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet picks are titans of industry with significant potential business conflicts of interest. But there is one in a class by himself: Commerce secretary choice Wilbur Ross. Ross has made a fortune in the steel industry 2014 an industry of which the Commerce Department has significant oversight. Indeed,

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Obama Policy Reforms Encourage “Restraint” In Foreign Arms Sales

The Arms Trade Treaty has the fervent support of the Obama administration but has run afoul of strong attacks from conservatives and the NRA.

Carey L. Biron
By Carey L. Biron

WASHINGTON --- For the first time in nearly two decades, President Barack Obama has updated U.S. policy guiding the sale of conventional arms and related military hardware to foreign governments.  Following on two years of quiet review, the surprise changes, which were unveiled last week, will now discourage the sale or aid of weaponry to

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Debate Rages Over Exporting American Oil

Is the U.S. ready to lift its own ban on exporting oil to foreign nations? Even Republican members of Congress are calling for an end to the law.

Les Neuhaus
By Les Neuhaus
Total Petrochemicals Port Arhtur refinery is shown Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009 in Port Arthur, Texas. Over the past several years, Total Petrochemical's sprawling oil refinery in southeast Texas has sprayed tons of sulfuric acid and carbon monoxide into the sky. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

With U.S. oil reserves predicted to surpass that of giants like Saudi Arabia, a nearly 40-year ban on the selling of domestic oil abroad is being reexamined by congressional and business leaders, according to various reports Wednesday. Top Republican on the Senate Energy Committee Sen. Lisa Murkowski said in a speech at the Brookings Institution

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A Free Internet Is Not Here, Yet: A New SOPA Re-introduced

Justin Bieber, who rose to stardom based on his YouTube videos of himself singing copyrighted R&B songs, under SOPA, would go to jail for copyright violations.

Frederick Reese
By Frederick Reese
Wikipedia

Last month the U.S. Department of Commerce revived a concept most people thought was a ghost. In a report from the department’s Internet Policy Task Force, the agency returned to debate the notion of making the streaming of copyrighted works over the Internet a felony. As it stands today, the streaming of copyrighted works is a civil, and not a

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