Making whiskey at home has been a federal crime since 1868. Now the Supreme Court will decide whether that ban is constitutional. The justices on Monday agreed to hear the Justice Department's appeal of a Fifth Circuit ruling that struck the law down, finding it goes beyond Congress's power to tax. The challengers include a hobby distillers group with about 1,300 members.

The law says only U.S. citizens and U.S.-incorporated companies can hold mining claims on federal land. A new GAO report says the agency in charge rarely checks. In a sample of 15 business claimants, GAO couldn't find evidence that 7 were U.S. companies. A companion report found 14 of 32 companies behind critical mineral mines were subsidiaries of foreign firms, and in at least two cases Chinese entities had a stake in the parent company.