Rep. Derrick Van Orden

Birthright Citizenship Act of 2025 This bill limits birthright citizenship by redefining what it means to be subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Currently, a person born in the United States and subject to U.S. jurisdiction is entitled to citizenship. Under the bill, a person is subject to U.S. jurisdiction if he or she is born to a parent who is (1) a U.S. citizen or national, (2) a lawful permanent resident residing in the United States, or (3) a non-U.S. national ( alien under federal law) with a lawful immigration status who is performing active service in the Armed Forces. The bill does not affect the citizenship or nationality status of any person born before the bill's enactment date.

Maddy summaryHR 592, the Protecting School Milk Choices Act of 2025, requires schools participating in the National School Lunch Program to offer both flavored and unflavored milk to students. It mandates that schools must provide these options (replacing previous flexibility), while allowing schools to optionally offer lactose-free milk. This directly affects all public and nonprofit schools serving meals under the federal lunch program. The bill changes the current requirement by making flavored milk a mandatory offering, ensuring students have access to both types of milk.

Maddy summaryHR 502, the Protecting Infrastructure Investments for Rural America Act, modifies the rural surface transportation grant program under Title 23, U.S. Code. It redefines "small community" as areas outside urbanized zones with populations of 5,000 or less (down from 200,000), and requires that 5% of annual program funds support projects in these communities. The bill increases the federal share for eligible projects in small communities to 90% and mandates that projects must benefit economic development or quality of life in the community. These changes directly affect rural areas and small towns by prioritizing infrastructure funding for the smallest communities.

Maddy summaryHRES 49 prohibits all House Members, Delegates, and Resident Commissioners from displaying or bringing foreign flags on the House floor during sessions. Exceptions allow lapel pins with foreign flags and flags shown as part of speeches or debates under House rules. The Sergeant-at-Arms enforces this rule, which applies to all visible foreign flags regardless of size, except for the specified exceptions. This is a procedural rule change affecting conduct on the House floor, not a policy on foreign relations.

Maddy summaryThis bill creates a new tax deduction for cash tips received by workers in specific service occupations that traditionally accepted tips before 2024 (like servers, barbers, and beauticians). It allows a deduction of up to $25,000 per year for qualified tips included on employer statements, but excludes employees who earned over a certain threshold ($220,000 in 2023) from the same employer the previous year. The deduction applies to taxable years beginning after December 2024 and is designed to reduce taxable income for eligible workers. It directly affects service industry workers in qualifying tip-dependent jobs who receive cash tips, not the general public.

Chiropractic Medicare Coverage Modernization Act of 2025 This bill expands Medicare coverage of chiropractic services to include all services provided by chiropractors, rather than only subluxation corrections through manual manipulation of the spine.

This bill increases the annual limit on the tax credit for qualified railroad track maintenance expenses (also referred to as the short line railroad tax credit) and expands eligibility for claiming the credit. Under current law, the tax credit is limited each tax year to $3,500 multiplied by the sum of the number of miles of railroad track owned or leased by the taxpayer (miles owned or leased) and the number of railroad track miles assigned to the taxpayer by a Class II or III railroad (miles assigned). This bill increases the annual limit to $6,100 multiplied by the sum of miles owned or leased and miles assigned. The $6,100 amount used in the calculation of the tax credit limit is adjusted for inflation for tax years beginning after 2025. The bill also expands eligibility for the tax credit to include gross expenses for maintaining railroad tracks owned or leased as of January 1, 2024. Under current law, the tax credit is limited to gross expenses for maintaining railroad tracks owned or leased as of January 1, 2015.

Maddy summaryThis bill codifies qualified immunity standards for law enforcement officers under federal law. It specifies that individual officers cannot be held liable in civil suits if they demonstrate either that the constitutional right at issue was not clearly established at the time of the incident, or that a prior court ruling already confirmed the conduct was lawful. Local government agencies also cannot be held liable if the officer is found not liable under these standards and was acting within their job duties. The law applies to all federal, state, tribal, and local officers with arrest powers, including police officers. The changes would take effect 180 days after enactment.

Maddy summaryHR 511 (AMERICANS Act) prevents the military from imposing new COVID-19 vaccine mandates without explicit congressional approval. It prohibits adverse actions like discharge or rank reduction against service members who refuse the vaccine based on personal reasons, and requires the military to reinstate separated members to their prior rank with back pay, expunge related records, and retain unvaccinated personnel equally. The bill also eliminates bonus repayment obligations for members separated over vaccine refusal and mandates equal professional development opportunities for unvaccinated service members. It directly affects military personnel impacted by prior vaccine mandates, focusing on policy changes rather than future outcomes.

Maddy summaryHR 507, the Veterans Member Business Loan Act, amends the Federal Credit Union Act to explicitly include loans made to veterans as qualifying "member business loans" under credit unions. This change directly affects veterans seeking business financing through federal credit unions, allowing them to access these loans under the same framework as other small business borrowers. The key mechanism is adding a new definition category ("made to a veteran") to the existing eligibility criteria for business loans, using the standard military definition of "veteran" from Title 38, U.S. Code. The bill does not create new funding or programs but expands existing credit union lending options to include veterans. This definition change takes effect six months after the bill's enactment.