The Investigative Journal’s Federal Register Watch is a daily digest of notable rules, proposed rules, and notices published in the U.S. government’s official journal of record. Figures and document details below are drawn directly from the Office of the Federal Register’s July 6, 2026 issue and cited primary sources.
The Federal Register for Monday, July 6, 2026 (Vol. 91, No. 127) ran to 661 pages and carried 137 documents from 47 agencies — 19 final rules, 10 proposed rules, 107 notices, and one presidential determination, according to the Office of the Federal Register’s daily issue. Several entries carry significant economic, national-security, and civil-liberties implications, and several open public comment periods that close over the coming weeks. Below are eight of the day’s most consequential filings, followed by additional items relevant to TIJ’s accountability beats.
1. Justice and Homeland Security extend counter-drone authority to state and local police
In an interim final rule published jointly by the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, the agencies codified a framework that, according to the rule’s text, implements the SAFER SKIES Act and authorizes state, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement and correctional agencies to detect, track, and — under specified conditions — mitigate unmanned aircraft systems. The rule appears in the Federal Register as “Counter-UAS Authority for State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Law Enforcement and Correctional Agencies” (Doc. 2026-13609).
The action is significant because counter-drone “mitigation” authority — which can involve intercepting a drone’s control signals or physically bringing an aircraft down — had until now been reserved under federal law to a limited set of federal departments. Extending that authority to non-federal agencies implicates federal statutes governing aircraft, wire communications, and computer access, and the Departments state the framework is designed to set conditions, training requirements, and oversight for participating agencies. Records of the rulemaking indicate the Departments are proceeding by interim final rule, meaning the framework takes effect without a prior comment period.
The agencies are nonetheless accepting public comment, with submissions due on or before September 4, 2026, according to the filing. Civil-liberties and privacy questions surrounding expanded surveillance and interdiction powers make this a rule TIJ will continue to track through the comment period and any final action.
2. Justice Department files proposed antitrust judgment against Live Nation and Ticketmaster
The Antitrust Division and plaintiff states filed a proposed final judgment and Competitive Impact Statement in United States et al. v. Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (Doc. 2026-13623). The Department first sued Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary in 2024, alleging the company unlawfully maintained monopoly power across live-entertainment markets; the newly filed judgment would, if entered by the court, resolve those claims.
According to the Department’s Competitive Impact Statement, the proposed judgment would require the defendants to divest control over certain amphitheaters, cap ticket service fees at defendants’ amphitheaters, loosen exclusivity provisions in existing primary-ticketing contracts, permit promoters and artists to use alternative ticket sellers, build technology allowing major venues on Ticketmaster’s platform to distribute tickets through third-party marketplaces, maintain information firewalls between Live Nation and Ticketmaster, terminate a ticketing arrangement with the Oak View Group, share certain data with artists, and notify the government of future acquisitions.
The filing is a proposal, not a final resolution: under the Tunney Act, a 60-day public comment period runs from the later of Federal Register publication or newspaper publication of a summary of the Competitive Impact Statement, after which the court must find entry of the judgment in the public interest. Because the matter remains pending, the underlying allegations have not been adjudicated. The consumer stakes — particularly the proposed fee caps and divestitures — make this among the day’s most economically consequential filings.
3. DEA moves to place concentrated 7-OH kratom compounds in Schedule I
The Drug Enforcement Administration issued temporary scheduling orders placing 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) above a specified threshold (Doc. 2026-13580) and the related substances mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, MGM-15, and MGM-16 (Doc. 2026-13581) into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. The DEA announced the action on July 1, describing the compounds as an imminent hazard to public safety.
According to the orders, the threshold covers Mitragyna speciosa (kratom) material containing more than 0.050 percent 7-OH by dry weight, or processed products containing more than 0.050 percent by weight or more than 1.00 milligram of 7-OH per article. The DEA states the action targets synthesized and concentrated 7-OH products and does not reach botanical kratom containing naturally occurring 7-OH below the threshold — a distinction that industry group SABER publicly welcomed as preserving access to natural leaf kratom.
An accompanying Request for Information (Doc. 2026-13608) seeks public input on whether additional data support the 0.050 percent threshold or an alternative level, with comments due by July 31, 2026. The Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration issued statements supporting the DEA’s move.
4. EEOC rescinds decades-old affirmative-action guidelines under Title VII
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission published a rescission of its guidelines on “Affirmative Action Appropriate Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act” (Doc. 2026-13637), removing interpretive guidance that had been on the books for roughly four decades. The Commission voted to rescind the guidelines and a related Compliance Manual section on June 30, 2026.
In its rationale, the EEOC states that the guidelines conflict with the text of Title VII and with Supreme Court case law developed since the guidance was issued. Employment-law practitioners analyzing the change note that, without the guidelines, employers maintaining voluntary, race- or sex-conscious affirmative-action plans can no longer point to the EEOC’s own framework as a reference point or invoke it as a good-faith defense under the statute.
The move is part of a broader realignment of federal equal-employment policy following recent Supreme Court decisions on race-conscious programs. TIJ notes the practical uncertainty the rescission creates for employers and will follow how the Commission and the courts apply the change.
5. FCC closes import window for Huawei, ZTE, and other “covered” equipment
The Federal Communications Commission published a rule prohibiting the continued importation and marketing of previously authorized “covered” communications equipment (Doc. 2026-13518) — hardware from companies including Huawei, ZTE, Hytera, Hikvision, and Dahua that was added to the FCC’s Covered List in 2024 or earlier.
The action closes a gap dating to November 2022, when the Commission stopped approving new equipment models from the listed companies but left earlier authorizations intact, allowing pre-approved gear to keep entering the U.S. market. The FCC frames the prohibition as a national-security measure under the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act, aimed at telecommunications and video-surveillance equipment deemed to pose an unacceptable risk.
Reporting on the measure indicates the prohibition does not require removing equipment already installed in American homes and networks. For TIJ’s technology and China-accountability coverage, the rule marks a further tightening of restrictions on Chinese-manufactured network and surveillance hardware.
6. CMS proposes 2027 home-health payment rule with supply-chain disclosure
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued its proposed Calendar Year 2027 Home Health Prospective Payment System rate update (Doc. 2026-13602), the annual rulemaking that sets Medicare payment rates for home-health agencies and updates related quality and value-based-purchasing programs. Public comments are due by August 31, 2026.
Beyond the rate update, the proposal includes provisions with a supply-chain dimension: CMS proposes to collect the country of origin for lead items from suppliers in the Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) competitive-bidding program, and to populate that information in the Medicare Supplier Directory. The rule also proposes revisions to the definition of durable medical equipment to address external infusion pumps and associated home-infusion drugs and supplies.
Home-health payment policy affects millions of Medicare beneficiaries and billions of dollars in annual spending, and the proposed country-of-origin disclosure is notable for bringing procurement-transparency requirements into a Medicare payment rule. TIJ will track stakeholder comments from home-health providers and equipment suppliers.
7. EPA seeks comment on PFAS-in-biosolids guidance
The Environmental Protection Agency released draft guidance for reducing risk from perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) in biosolids (Doc. 2026-13615), opening a public docket and requesting feedback. According to the agency, the draft memorandum offers non-binding, voluntary recommendations for wastewater-treatment operators, farmers, landowners, and state and Tribal agencies on managing the two “forever chemicals” in sewage sludge.
The draft recommendations include avoiding land application of biosolids near waterways and on land where children play, and avoiding their use as fertilizer on crops with a higher risk of human exposure. The EPA is soliciting comment for 60 days under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2026-2509.
PFOA and PFOS are persistent compounds linked in scientific literature to a range of health concerns, and biosolids land application has become a focal point of PFAS policy. The guidance is part of a broader set of EPA actions on PFAS and is relevant to TIJ’s environmental and agricultural accountability reporting.
8. Presidential determination waives trafficking-related restrictions on Venezuela aid
The day’s single presidential document, Presidential Determination on Assistance to Venezuela Consistent With the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (Doc. 2026-13631, Presidential Determination No. 2026-17 of June 26, 2026), invokes the President’s waiver authority under the TVPA. The determination states that providing the assistance described in the Act to Venezuela would promote the purposes of the Act or is otherwise in the national interest of the United States.
Under the TVPA, countries ranked at the lowest tier of the State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report face restrictions on certain nonhumanitarian, non-trade-related U.S. assistance, which the President may waive. The July 6 determination follows an earlier Presidential Determination (No. 2026-02 of November 21, 2025) addressing assistance to Venezuela.
The determination is a discrete foreign-policy instrument rather than a broad policy shift, but it signals continued executive attention to U.S. engagement with Venezuela. TIJ’s international-accountability desk will monitor how any authorized assistance is structured and reported.
Also on TIJ’s beats
Several additional July 6 filings touch directly on TIJ’s investigative priorities. On trade enforcement, the Commerce Department and International Trade Commission moved on multiple fronts, initiating antidumping and countervailing-duty investigations on glyphosate from China (Doc. 2026-13517), initiating a review of certain corrosion-resistant steel products from China (Doc. 2026-13607), and issuing a countervailing-duty order on steel concrete reinforcing bar from Algeria (Doc. 2026-13488) — part of a continuing enforcement posture toward imported metals and chemicals.
On financial accountability, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control published a notice of new sanctions actions (Doc. 2026-13494). The Social Security Administration proposed changes to its rules on recoupment of benefit overpayments (Doc. 2026-13639), a subject of long-running concern for beneficiaries facing clawbacks. And the Department of Education published a correction concerning foreign gifts and contracts disclosures (Doc. 2026-13605), part of the Section 117 regime requiring universities to report foreign funding — a recurring transparency theme in TIJ’s reporting on foreign influence.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also published notices on fingerprint and photograph requirements for firearms applications (Doc. 2026-13587) and registering National Firearms Act firearms that fall out of government contract (Doc. 2026-13586).
Comment periods to watch: the DEA 7-OH threshold (July 31), the CMS home-health rule (August 31), the counter-UAS framework (September 4), the EPA biosolids guidance (60 days), and the Live Nation proposed judgment (60 days under the Tunney Act). TIJ’s Federal Register Watch will continue tracking these dockets and flag substantive developments as agencies act.
Sources: U.S. Office of the Federal Register (federalregister.gov), and the U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Federal Communications Commission, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Environmental Protection Agency, and the Executive Office of the President, as linked above. All document numbers refer to the Federal Register issue of July 6, 2026 (Vol. 91, No. 127).