1. LAW
'Mr. Clean Water Act' faces his biggest challenge
Veteran Justice Department attorney Steve Samuels -- the government's most recognizable expert on the Clean Water Act -- is facing the greatest challenge of his long career: defending the Obama administration's contentious new Waters of the U.S. rule. Challenges from 31 states, countless industry groups and even a few environmental nonprofits has sprung up in courts across the country, paving a road of litigation that seems almost certain to reach the Supreme Court.