Over the past several months we have happily reported on a series of positive developments out of the Trump Administration—especially in its efforts to roll-back Obama era regulations that have further complicated and expanded the reach of the federal government. The NFIB Small Business Legal Center has been actively working to defend the President’s Executive Order calling for the elimination of burdensome regulation. But setting aside those de-regulatory efforts, we were pleased to see that Attorney General Sessions issued a memorandum prohibiting the U.S. Department of Justice from entering into settlement agreements that require business defendants to pay money to third-party non-governmental organizations.
In the past DOJ has authorized settlements requiring defendants to pay money to activist groups—money which had been used to fund even more aggressive and controversial lawsuits against commercial actors. So not only does General Sessions’ policy guarantee that monies paid in settlements ultimately benefit the American people—as opposed to ideologically motivated activist organizations—but it means that extremist environmental activists and other such groups will have to find other ways to bankroll their legal activities. This is good news for the small business community.
The Attorney General’s press release can be found here.
