The Protecting American Taxpayers Act is a comprehensive bill designed to combat government fraud, recover misused funds, and strengthen oversight across various federal programs. It directly affects federal agencies, state governments administering public assistance, small businesses, veterans, and contractors by imposing new reporting requirements, extending statutes of limitations for fraud cases, and restricting financial assistance to entities linked to foreign agents or the Taliban. Key mechanisms include requiring child care payments to be based on recorded attendance rather than enrollment, mandating investigations into sudden spikes in health care spending, prohibiting small businesses with convicted fraudsters from receiving loans, and creating a new officer within the Department of Veterans Affairs dedicated to scam prevention. Additionally, the legislation rescinds unspent pandemic-era funds for deficit reduction, expands whistleblower protections for defense and non-defense contractors, and establishes stricter rules against transferring public assistance money abroad via remittance transfers.
The Prevent Government Shutdowns Act of 2026 automatically provides federal funding for government programs if Congress fails to pass a budget by the start of a new fiscal year. This mechanism supplies money for 14-day periods that can be extended as long as the shutdown continues, ensuring essential services like food assistance and loan programs keep running without interruption. To prevent political games during these shutdowns, the bill restricts official travel for government officials and limits what Congress can debate or vote on, except for passing a new budget or addressing the national debt limit.
The Shutdown Fairness Act guarantees standard pay for covered government workers and contractors during federal funding gaps. It directly affects federal employees, military personnel on active duty, and contractor staff who must work during a shutdown, ensuring they receive their regular compensation without regard to prior furloughs. The bill requires agencies to use emergency funds to pay covered employees within 7 days of enactment for the 2025-2026 shutdown period, and on regular pay schedules for future shutdowns. This applies retroactively from September 30, 2025, and limits funds strictly to pay, prohibiting reprogramming for other purposes.
Shutdown Fairness Act This bill provides appropriations to pay federal employees who work during a government shutdown. Specifically, the bill provides appropriations for federal agencies to provide standard rates of pay, allowances, pay differentials, benefits, and other payments to excepted employees for work performed during any period in which interim continuing appropriations or full-year appropriations are not in effect for a fiscal year (i.e., a government shutdown). An excepted employee is an employee who is required to work during a government shutdown. Under current law, excepted employees are not paid until the government shutdown is over. This bill provides appropriations to pay excepted employees during a government shutdown. The bill also specifies that the term excepted employee includes certain contractors who support federal employees during a government shutdown and members of the Armed Forces who are on active duty. A federal agency may not use the funds provided by this bill during any period in which continuing appropriations are in effect for the purpose of paying excepted employees of the agency. The bill must take effect as if it had been enacted on September 30, 2025.
This bill amends federal education law to prohibit federally funded athletic programs from allowing individuals assigned male at birth to participate in sports designated for women or girls. It defines "sex" for this purpose as biological sex at birth, based on reproductive anatomy and genetics. The law directly affects schools, colleges, and sports organizations receiving federal funding. Violations would constitute a breach of Title IX, requiring programs to exclude individuals whose sex is male from women's or girls' athletic teams.
S 6, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, requires healthcare providers at facilities performing abortions to provide the same medical care to infants born alive during or after an abortion as they would to any newborn, including immediate hospital admission. The bill mandates that any provider or facility employee who witnesses a failure to provide this care must report it to law enforcement, with violations punishable by fines up to $5,000 or up to 5 years in prison. It also allows women who undergo abortions to pursue civil lawsuits for damages if providers fail to comply, including three times the abortion cost plus punitive damages. The bill defines "abortion" as procedures intended to kill the unborn child or terminate pregnancy without preserving the child's life after viability.
S 4447, the "Allowing Greater Access to Safe and Effective Contraception Act," would require the FDA to prioritize review of applications for oral contraceptives intended for routine use (excluding emergency contraception or abortion-related drugs), potentially enabling over-the-counter access for adults 18 and older. It includes a fee waiver for these applications and maintains prescription requirements for individuals under 18. The bill also mandates a GAO study on federal funding for contraception across programs like Medicaid, Medicare, and Title X over the past 15 years. These provisions aim to streamline approval for accessible birth control while clarifying funding patterns.
The National Right-to-Work Act would amend federal labor law to prohibit requiring employees to join a union or pay union dues as a condition of employment. It removes existing provisions in the National Labor Relations Act that allowed for "union security agreements" (such as agency shops) and similarly amends the Railway Labor Act for railroad workers. This change would mean private sector and railroad workers nationwide would not face mandatory union fees to retain their jobs, applying to all new or renewed employment agreements after enactment. The bill directly affects all covered employees in the private workforce and railroad industry by eliminating forced financial contributions to labor unions.
This bill would allow individuals with valid concealed carry permits from their home state to carry concealed handguns in other states that either permit concealed carry for residents or don't ban it. It requires permit holders to have a government-issued ID, meet federal firearm possession rules, and carry only handguns (excluding machineguns or destructive devices). Carrying would still follow local restrictions in the destination state, such as bans in schools or government buildings. The bill does not change how states issue permits but creates automatic recognition of valid permits across participating states.
The Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 2023 would require Congress to approve most major federal regulations before they take effect. Major rules, defined as those with significant economic impact (estimated at $100 million or more annually), would need a joint resolution of approval from both chambers within 70 days. Agencies would be required to submit detailed reports to Congress before rules take effect, including cost-benefit analyses, economic effects, and other relevant information. This would increase congressional oversight of the regulatory process, though it includes exceptions for national security, emergencies, and monetary policy rules.
This bill requires the U.S. government to prioritize payments for Social Security benefits, military pay, veterans' benefits, Medicare, and debt held by the public if the national debt reaches its legal limit. It mandates that the Treasury automatically increase the debt ceiling by the amount needed to cover these priority payments during any two-week period where revenue would otherwise fall short. The law directly affects Social Security recipients, active-duty military personnel, veterans, Medicare beneficiaries, and holders of U.S. Treasury debt. Key provisions include automatic debt limit adjustments based on revenue projections and holding excess funds for future payment periods. The bill aims to prevent default on these critical obligations without requiring new congressional action during debt limit crises.
Defund the Ministry of Truth Act of 2022 This bill prohibits the expenditure of federal funds for the establishment or operation of the Disinformation Governance Board in the Department of Homeland Security.
