Sen. Bill Cassidy

Maddy summaryThe HELPER Act of 2025 creates a new FHA mortgage insurance program specifically for first responders and teachers, allowing them to purchase homes with no down payment. It defines "first responders" as full-time law enforcement officers, firefighters, paramedics, EMTs, and K-12 teachers employed by government or accredited schools. The program requires applicants to be first-time homebuyers with 4 years of recent employment in their field, complete housing counseling, and intend to remain in their role for at least one year after closing. Mortgages under this program must be used for a primary residence, cover 100% of the home's appraised value, and exclude monthly insurance premiums.

Maddy summaryS 990, the Freedom to Haul Act of 2025, prohibits the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from implementing or enforcing Phase 3 greenhouse gas emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles (finalized in April 2024). It amends the Clean Air Act to require that future emissions rules for vehicles cannot mandate specific technologies or limit the availability of new trucks based on engine type. This directly affects EPA regulatory authority and vehicle manufacturers, ensuring a broader range of new truck options remains available. The bill focuses on preventing regulatory restrictions on vehicle choice, not on emissions outcomes.

Maddy summaryThis bill repeals the EPA's 2024 emissions standards for light- and medium-duty vehicles and amends the Clean Air Act to prevent future regulations from mandating specific technologies or limiting new vehicle availability based on engine type. It directly affects the EPA's regulatory authority and vehicle manufacturers by blocking technology mandates and restrictions on engine types in new vehicles. Key provisions require the EPA to revise regulations within 24 months to align with these changes, ensuring no federal rules limit vehicle choices based on engine technology. The bill's title is misleading, as it does not address automobile retail sales or consumer choice at dealerships.

Maddy summaryThis bill amends the Clean Air Act to prevent states from imposing standards that limit the sale or use of new internal combustion engine vehicles. It adds a new requirement that state standards must not directly or indirectly restrict such vehicles, and it prohibits the EPA from considering pre-2025 state standards as valid under existing waivers. The bill also requires the EPA to revoke certain existing waivers granted between January 2022 and the bill's enactment date if those waivers don't comply with the new standard. This directly affects states with their own vehicle emission rules (like California's ZEV program), limiting their ability to regulate internal combustion engine vehicles through EPA-approved standards.

Maddy summaryThe Baltic Security Initiative Act (S 1009) establishes a new U.S. Department of Defense program to strengthen military cooperation with Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania (the "Baltic countries"). It authorizes $350 million annually for fiscal years 2026-2028 to support specific security goals, including deterring Russian aggression, enhancing NATO's eastern flank defense, and improving joint capabilities like missile defense, cyber resilience, and ammunition stockpiling. The bill requires the Secretary of Defense to submit a strategy report within one year of enactment, detailing how the initiative will achieve these objectives through existing authorities. This program directly affects U.S. defense planning and security assistance for the Baltic nations, focusing on concrete military cooperation rather than new laws or regulations.

Maddy summaryThe SOIL Act of 2025 requires the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to review certain foreign purchases of agricultural land and real estate near military bases. It specifically targets transactions involving foreign entities from countries designated as nonmarket economies (like China or Russia under trade law) or identified as national security risks in the annual intelligence threat report. The bill prohibits federal subsidies for agricultural land held by such foreign entities and updates disclosure rules to include long-term leases of agricultural land. It also mandates annual public reports detailing foreign ownership of U.S. farmland by country, including holdings near military installations within 50 miles.

Protecting Pharmacies in Medicaid Act This bill provides funds beginning in FY2026 for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to survey retail and non-retail pharmacies (e.g., mail-order pharmacies) to determine average prices of covered outpatient drugs under Medicaid. Pharmacies that fail to participate in the surveys are subject to civil penalties. The bill additionally provides funds for FY2026 for the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services to study the results of the survey and report accordingly to Congress. The bill also requires pass-through pricing models, and prohibits spread-pricing, for payment arrangements with pharmacy benefit managers under Medicaid.

Maddy summaryThis bill (S 952) creates a single uniform tariff subheading (2208.30.00) for all whiskies in the U.S. tariff schedule, replacing multiple existing subheadings. It sets a flat duty rate of $2.04 per liter for all whiskies under this new category and requires the U.S. International Trade Commission to add specific statistical suffixes to distinguish between whisky types (like Irish/Scotch, Bourbon, Rye) and container sizes. The change directly affects whisky importers and customs officials who process these goods, standardizing how whiskies are classified for duty calculation. The new system takes effect 15 days after the bill is enacted.

Customs Facilitation Act of 2025 This bill revises procedures for customs and trade enforcement and establishes related data and reporting requirements.  Specifically, the bill provides statutory authority for the Border Interagency Executive Council to enhance coordination with border management authorities. The Department of Homeland Security must (1) ensure that a uniform automated platform provides a system to process and release cargo being imported into and exported from the United States, and (2) provide for the continuous modernization of the Automated Commercial Environment (the system through which the trade community reports imports and exports and the government determines admissibility). The bill allows for an accelerated payment of duty drawbacks (i.e., refunds on duties for imported items that are reexported or destroyed) for claims in which the claimant has submitted required documentation and obtained a properly executed bond. The Department of Commerce must issue regulations allowing for the submission of export manifest data prior to departure. Clerical errors in the submission of export data shall generally be exempt from penalties. The bill establishes requirements for specified agencies to follow when issuing regulations related to data collection for trade enforcement and facilitation. The Government Accountability Office must submit certain reports, including on the fee schedule of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).  Additionally, among other actions, CBP must (1) notify members of the trade community when it makes changes to the minimum-security criteria for participation in the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism program, and (2) review deadlines for CBP responses to requests.

Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act of 2025 This bill prohibits the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from transmitting certain information to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) utilized by licensed importers or dealers of firearms. Specifically, the bill prohibits the VA from transmitting personally identifying information of a veteran or a beneficiary to the NICS solely on the basis that such veteran or beneficiary has an appointed fiduciary to manage their benefits, unless there is an order or finding of a judicial authority that such veteran or beneficiary is a danger to themselves or others.