This bill renames the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as the "Consumer Financial Empowerment Agency" across all federal laws and documents, affecting over 25 statutes including the Dodd-Frank Act and Truth in Lending Act. It makes no substantive policy changes but updates references to the agency's name in legal texts, regulations, and government records. The change applies to all existing provisions, titles, and definitions within federal law without altering the agency's structure or authority. This is a purely procedural renaming bill with no new funding or regulatory impact.
The Regulation Decimation Act requires federal agencies to repeal at least ten existing regulations before issuing a new rule that affects businesses, states, or local governments. For major rules (those with significant economic impact), agencies must repeal ten related rules and ensure the new rule's cost does not exceed the cost of the repealed rules, with Office of Management and Budget certification. The law excludes internal agency policies and rules revised to reduce burdens, and mandates agencies to review all costly or outdated rules within 90 days of enactment, reporting on rule reductions to Congress every five years. This bill directly affects federal agencies creating new regulations, aiming to reduce regulatory burden through mandatory rule repeal.
HR 685, the SAVE Moms and Babies Act of 2025, prohibits the FDA from approving new abortion drugs or allowing investigational use of existing ones. It restricts existing abortion drugs to in-person administration by certified healthcare providers in clinics or hospitals (not pharmacies), limits use to pregnancies under 70 days gestation, and requires providers to certify they can handle complications like severe bleeding or ectopic pregnancies. The bill mandates reporting of adverse events (such as hospitalizations or infections) to the FDA without patient identifiers and defines "abortion drug" broadly as any drug intended to terminate pregnancy, excluding specific medical exceptions. This directly affects FDA approval processes, healthcare providers prescribing these drugs, and drug manufacturers.
HR 645, the National Constitutional Carry Act, would prevent all U.S. states and localities from requiring permits or imposing penalties for carrying firearms in public. It directly affects eligible U.S. citizens (including non-residents) who legally possess firearms under state and federal law, removing current permit requirements for public carry. The bill’s key provision amends federal law to invalidate any state or local law that criminalizes or discourages public firearm carry, except where private property owners clearly prohibit firearms or security screening occurs. This would override existing state permit laws, making permitless carry legal across all states and territories for qualified individuals.
HR 703, the Main Street Tax Certainty Act, makes a key tax deduction permanent for small business owners. It removes the temporary sunset provision (subsection (i)) from Section 199A of the tax code, ensuring the qualified business income deduction remains available for eligible small businesses. This change directly affects pass-through business owners (like S-corps, partnerships, and sole proprietorships) who currently qualify for this deduction. The permanent change takes effect for tax years starting after December 31, 2025.
HR 648, the Strengthening our Servicemembers with Milk Act, requires the Secretary of Defense to provide a variety of milk options - including unflavored, organic, lactose-free, and different fat levels - to all members of the Armed Forces at military dining facilities. The bill mandates that installations offer these choices to support servicemember nutrition and dietary needs. It also prohibits purchasing milk from entities owned or controlled by foreign adversaries, as defined by Commerce Department regulations. This policy directly affects military personnel dining at on-base facilities nationwide.
HJRES 28 proposes a constitutional amendment to permanently fix the number of justices on the U.S. Supreme Court at nine. This would require ratification by 38 state legislatures (three-fourths of states) within seven years to become part of the Constitution. The amendment directly affects the structure of the Supreme Court, which has had nine justices since 1869 but could otherwise be altered by future congressional action. It does not change current court operations or create new laws, but instead seeks to make the nine-justice composition a permanent constitutional requirement.
SRES 30 is a ceremonial Senate resolution honoring Mississippi's Gestational Age Act, introduced by Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith and others on January 22, 2025. It expresses gratitude to Mississippi State Representative Becky Currie for introducing the 2018 law that banned abortions after 15 weeks gestation, which later became central to the Supreme Court's 2022 *Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health* decision overturning *Roe v. Wade*. The resolution does not create new laws or alter abortion access but formally recognizes Mississippi's role in the legal shift. It is purely symbolic, with no policy impact, and acknowledges the state law as a catalyst for the Supreme Court's ruling.
This bill requires states receiving Medicaid funds for family planning services to submit standardized abortion data to the CDC annually. States must report specific details like maternal age, race, ethnicity, procedure type, gestational age, and whether a child survived the procedure. Data must be submitted by December 31 each year, and states providing false information could lose Medicaid funding for a year. The goal is to create consistent national abortion statistics, addressing current gaps where many states don’t report data reliably.
The FARM Act (S 179) amends the Defense Production Act to require the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to review foreign investments in U.S. agricultural businesses and supply chains. It explicitly adds agricultural supply chains to the definitions of "critical infrastructure" and "critical technologies," expanding CFIUS oversight to include transactions that could result in foreign control of U.S. agriculture operations. The bill mandates a report within one year to Congress analyzing foreign investments in U.S. agriculture, potential threats to supply chains, and espionage risks targeting agricultural research or data. This law directly affects U.S. agricultural businesses and foreign entities seeking to acquire or invest in U.S. agricultural assets.
S 181 requires most federal agencies to submit zero-based budgets every six years, analyzing current operations, exploring alternatives, and ranking programs by importance. These budgets must cover the next fiscal year and the following four years, submitted to the Office of Management and Budget and congressional budget committees. Agencies (excluding Defense and the National Nuclear Security Administration) must also recommend specific program cuts totaling at least a 2% reduction in non-defense discretionary spending from the prior year. The bill directly affects how federal agencies plan and justify their funding, aiming to improve budget efficiency through systematic review.
This bill prohibits federal funds from being used for abortions or health plans covering abortion. It amends the Affordable Care Act to block premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions for health plans that include abortion coverage (except for rape/incest cases or life-threatening conditions), and requires clear disclosure of abortion coverage and related surcharges in plan materials. The law explicitly exempts abortions performed due to rape, incest, or to preserve a mother's life, and allows separate abortion coverage using non-federal funds. It applies to all federal health programs and ACA marketplace plans, effective for plan years beginning after 2025.
