New job-discrimination law
President Obama signed legislation making it easier for women and minorities to file job-discrimination lawsuits. The bill, passed quickly by the new Congress, was a response to a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that said discrimination claims must be filed within 180 days of a company’s initial decision to pay a worker less than it pays another worker doing the same job. The new law eliminates that time requirement.

Lobbyist heads to Pentagon
Bill Lynn appears headed for confirmation as deputy defense secretary, despite a controversy over Lynn’s work as chief lobbyist for defense contractor Raytheon. One of Barack Obama’s first moves as president was setting new rules barring former lobbyists from overseeing industries that had employed them. But the president waived the rule to permit Lynn to serve as deputy secretary, with authority over budget and procurement decisions.