From many small and supposedly disconnected proposals, a larger pattern is emerging: corporate special interests and conservative lawmakers are conspiring to mount a comprehensive assault on regulatory protections, on a scale equivalent to the broad-based attacks of the Contract With America.

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs favorably reported out a bill April 13 that would strengthen whistleblower protections. The measure, the Federal Employee Protection of Disclosures Act (S. 494), would amend the Whistleblower Protection Act to provide additional protections for federal employees.

On April 13, Reps. Brad Sherman (D-CA) and Lamar Smith (R-TX) introduced the House version of the Faster FOIA bill, H.R. 1620, which would establish a commission to report on delays in responding to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, and recommend solutions. The Senate version, S. 589, also a bipartisan bill, passed favorably out of the Judiciary Committee on March 17.

On April 18, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan upheld a new Washington, DC, law prohibiting hazardous cargo rail shipments near the U.S. Capitol. Sullivan said that the District has a right to protect itself from an accident involving hazardous chemicals, because the federal government has failed to do so. CSX, the rail company challenging the District's new law, immediately appealed the ban on April 19th and won a ruling blocking the ban, which was scheduled to take effect April 20. The federal appeals court stated that it needs more time to review the legal issues surrounding the ban.