United States · United States Congress · 16 January 2025
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.
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 2025
Make the Migrant Protection Protocols Mandatory Act of 2025 This bill requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to remove certain non-U.S. nationals ( aliens under federal law) from the United States while such an individual's application for admission is pending. Specifically, if such an individual arrived by land from a foreign country bordering the United States and the individual is not clearly and beyond a doubt entitled to admission into the United States, DOJ must return that individual to that bordering foreign country while the individual's application for admission is pending. (Currently, DOJ may choose to detain such an individual or return the individual to the bordering foreign country while the application for admission is pending.)
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 2025
This resolution declares that every state within the United States has the sovereign right to exclude any person who does not have the right to be there. It also declares that the states along the southern border (1) were invaded by terrorists, narco-terrorist cartels, and criminal actors from 2021 through 2024; and (2) have the sovereign and unilateral authority to defend themselves against such an invasion.
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 2025
Empowering Law Enforcement To Fight Sex Trafficking Demand Act of 2025 This bill allows grants under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program to be used for programs to combat human trafficking.
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 2025
Promoting New Bank Formation Act This bill eliminates and reduces certain requirements applicable to new depository institutions, certain rural community depository institutions, and federal savings associations. Federal banking agencies must issue rules allowing a new depository institution or depository institution holding company three years to meet capital requirements. During this period, a depository institution or its depository institution holding company may request to deviate from an approved business plan, and the appropriate agency has 30 days to approve or deny the request. In addition, the community bank leverage ratio—a way of evaluating debt levels—is reduced for new rural community depository institutions. Specifically, new rural community depository institutions must have a ratio of 8%, with a three-year phase-in of the rate. After this period, the ratio rises to its current level of 9%. Finally, the bill removes certain restrictions to allow federal savings associations to invest in, sell, or otherwise deal in agricultural loans.
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 2025
No Official Giveaways Of Taxpayers’ Income to Oppressive Nations Act or the NO GOTION Act This bill prohibits an entity that is created in, organized in, or controlled (in the aggregate) by China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea, or an entity controlled (in the aggregate) by one or more of such entities, from claiming multiple energy-related federal tax credits and incentives. Specifically, the bill prohibits such entities from claiming the federal tax credits for alternative fuel vehicle refueling property, second-generation biofuel, biodiesel fuel, sustainable aviation fuel, renewable electricity production, carbon sequestration, zero-emission nuclear power production, clean hydrogen production, clean commercial vehicles, advanced manufacturing production, clean electricity production, clean fuel production, investments in energy property, advanced energy projects, clean electricity investment, biodiesel mixtures, alternative fuel, and alternative fuel mixtures. Further, such entities are prohibited from claiming the federal tax deduction for energy efficient improvements to commercial buildings. Finally, such entities are not entitled to a credit or refund of federal excise taxes paid on biodiesel, alternative fuel, or sustainable aviation fuel mixtures produced by the entities.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 2025
This resolution calls on the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to revoke its transgender student-athlete eligibility policy and urges the NCAA to require its member conferences to conform to a biological sex-based policy across all sports and all divisions.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 2025
Ensuring Accountability in Agency Rulemaking Act This bill requires, subject to a limited exception, that any agency rule promulgated under notice and comment procedures must be (1) initiated by a senior appointee (e.g., an individual who was appointed by the President or is a non-career member of the Senior Executive Service), and (2) issued and signed by an individual who was appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs must issue guidance for agencies to implement this requirement.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 2025
Repealing Big Brother Overreach Act This bill repeals the Corporate Transparency Act. The act requires existing companies and newly created companies to report beneficial ownership information to the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network for purposes of addressing the financing of terrorism and money laundering.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 2025
Miracle on Ice Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill provides for the award of Congressional Gold Medals to the members of the 1980 U.S. Olympic men's ice hockey team in recognition of the team's achievement at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 2025
Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act This bill modifies the rulemaking requirements and procedures of federal agencies under the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 and the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, including how agencies consider economic impact with respect to small entities. Specifically, the bill requires agencies to consider the direct, and the reasonably foreseeable indirect, economic effect of a rule on small entities when determining whether a rule is likely to have a significant economic impact. Further, the regulatory flexibility analysis for rules with a significant economic impact must include a detailed description of alternatives to a proposed rule that minimize any adverse significant economic impact or maximize any beneficial significant economic impact on small entities. The bill also expands the types of agency actions (e.g., revisions to land management plans) that are subject to a regulatory impact analysis. The bill removes the authority for an agency to waive the regulatory flexibility analysis requirements and requires the Office of Advocacy of the Small Business Administration to issue rules for compliance with such requirements. The bill also modifies the procedures for the (1) gathering of comments for a proposed rule, (2) periodic review of agency rules, and (3) judicial review of final rules.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 2025
No Welfare for the Wealthy Act of 2025 This bill requires all households participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to meet the program's income and asset requirements, thereby eliminating certain alternative SNAP eligibility pathways. Currently, a household may be eligible for SNAP by meeting program-specific federal eligibility requirements, which include both income and asset tests. A household may also be automatically or categorically eligible for SNAP based on eligibility for or receiving cash benefits from other specified low-income assistance programs (e.g., Temporary Assistance for Needy Families [TANF]). Under this categorical eligibility, households that already meet financial eligibility rules in a program like TANF are not required to go through a SNAP financial eligibility determination. A majority of states also provide broad-based categorical eligibility (BBCE), a policy that makes most households with an income below a certain threshold categorically eligible for SNAP. Under BBCE, these states typically make households categorically eligible through receiving or being authorized to receive a minimal non-cash TANF benefit or service (e.g., a pamphlet). A state may set its own BBCE financial eligibility requirements for a household so long as the gross income requirement is below a certain level. A state's requirements do not have to match SNAP program-specific eligibility requirements. For example, most states that provide BBCE do not have an asset test for SNAP eligibility. The bill requires all SNAP households, including those that qualify under categorical eligibility, to meet the program's income and asset requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 2025
Border Security Investment Act This bill imposes a fee on the electronic transfer of funds (i.e., remittances) sent to certain countries and provides funding for border security activities from the collected amounts. Specifically, the fee shall apply to remittances sent through money services business to one of the five countries that had the most citizens or nationals unlawfully enter the United States in the previous fiscal year, as determined by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The fee must be 37% of the amount sent. Half of the money collected by the fee must be placed in a trust fund for reimbursing border states for expenses incurred for border security enforcement measures. The other half must be placed in another trust fund for (1) deploying technology and installing physical barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border, and (2) paying the wages and salaries of U.S. Border Patrol agents. If the amount in the trust funds exceeds a certain threshold, the excess money must be used only for deficit reduction.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 2025
State Border Security Reimbursement Act of 2025 This bill requires the federal government to reimburse eligible states for their border security expenses. To be eligible, a state must have expended more than $2.5 billion on border security and enforcement in the 10 years before this bill's enactment. If such a state provides by a certain deadline an accounting of all of its nonfederally funded border security expenses, the federal government must reimburse the full amount.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 2025
Regulation Reduction Act of 2025 This bill requires federal agencies to repeal certain existing rules prior to issuing a new rule. Specifically, the bill prohibits an agency from issuing a rule that imposes a cost or responsibility on a nongovernmental person or a state or local government unless it repeals three or more related rules. Additionally, an agency may not issue a major rule that imposes such a cost or responsibility unless (1) the agency has repealed three or more related rules, and (2) the cost of the new rule is less than or equal to the cost of the rules being repealed. A major rule is a rule that has resulted in or is likely to result in (1) an annual economic effect of at least $100 million; (2) a major increase in costs or prices for consumers, individual industries, government agencies, or geographic regions; or (3) significant adverse effects on competition, employment, investment, productivity, or innovation. Any such repealed rule must be published in the Federal Register. This bill does not apply to a rule or major rule that (1) relates to an internal agency policy or practice, (2) relates to procurement, or (3) is being revised to be less burdensome to decrease requirements imposed or compliance costs. Additionally, each federal agency must submit to Congress and the Office of Management and Budget a report that includes a review of each rule of the agency and that identifies whether each rule is costly, ineffective, duplicative, or outdated.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 2025
Texas Agricultural Producers Assistance Act This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to submit a report to Congress on USDA assistance available for agricultural producers in Texas related to Mexico's non-compliance with a 1944 treaty with the United States concerning water utilization. Specifically, the USDA report must list all of the existing USDA authorities and programs that are or could be made available to provide assistance to agricultural producers in Texas that have suffered economic losses due to Mexico not delivering water to the United States in accordance with the Treaty on Utilization of Waters of the Colorado and Tijuana Rivers and of the Rio Grande, including the Supplementary Protocol.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 2025
Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program Enhancement Act This bill requires the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to enter into a contract to evaluate the Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program. Under the program, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service works in coordination with the Texas Animal Health Commission to combat the spread of cattle fever ticks, which can spread a serious cattle disease called bovine babesiosis or cattle fever. Specifically, USDA must enter into a contract to review and report on the Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program with a (1) land-grant college or university, or (2) non-land-grant college of agriculture. The review must include an evaluation of the program's (1) effectiveness with respect to preventing and reducing the spread of tick-borne illnesses in cattle; and (2) benefits, and the burdens of compliance, to cattle producers. The review must also evaluate the treatment protocols developed and implemented under the program. Further, the review must evaluate the federal and state funds allocated to support the program for the most recent fiscal year.
United States · United States Congress · 13 January 2025
Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act This bill prohibits the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from awarding family planning grants to entities that perform abortions or provide funding to other entities that perform abortions. To receive a grant, an entity must certify it will refrain from those activities during the grant period. The bill provides exceptions for abortions (1) in cases of rape or incest; or (2) when the life of the woman is in danger due to a physical disorder, injury, or illness. It also exempts hospitals unless they provide funds to non-hospital entities that provide abortions. HHS must submit a report to Congress annually on this prohibition.
United States · United States Congress · 13 January 2025
Prosecutors Need to Prosecute Act This bill requires certain state and local prosecutors to report data on criminal referrals and outcomes of cases involving murder or non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, arson, or any offense involving the illegal use or possession of a firearm. The reporting requirement applies to state and local prosecutors in a jurisdiction with 380,000 or more persons that receives funding under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program. The report must contain data on cases referred for prosecution, cases declined for prosecution, cases resulting in a plea agreement with the defendant, cases initiated against defendants with previous arrests or convictions, and defendants charged who were released or eligible for bail.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2025
This bill designates the community-based outpatient clinic of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Lubbock, Texas, as the General Bernie Mittemeyer VA Clinic.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2025
Protecting Life and Taxpayers Act of 2025 This bill requires entities receiving federal funds to certify that they will not, subject to certain exceptions, perform abortions or provide funding to other entities that perform abortions. The bill provides exceptions for abortions performed in cases of rape or incest or when necessary to resolve a physical condition that endangers a woman's life.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2025
Border Safety and Security Act of 2025 This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to suspend the entry of any non-U.S. nationals ( aliens under federal law) without valid entry documents during any period when DHS cannot detain such an individual or return the individual to a foreign country contiguous to the United States. A state may sue DHS to enforce this requirement. (Under current law, non-U.S. nationals who arrive at the border without entry documents are generally subject to expedited removal. However, if such an individual is found to have a credible fear of persecution, they are typically subject to detention while their asylum claim is being considered.) The bill also authorizes DHS to suspend the entry of non-U.S. nationals without entry documents at the border if DHS determines that such a suspension is necessary to achieve operational control over such a border.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2025
Return Excessive Migrants and Asylees to International Neighbors in Mexico Act of 2025 or the REMAIN in Mexico Act of 2025 This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to implement the Migrant Protection Protocols as outlined in the January 25, 2019, memo titled Policy Guidance for Implementation of the Migrant Protection Protocols . (The protocols generally required aliens who are not clearly admissible, including those seeking asylum, arriving by land along the U.S.-Mexico border to be returned to Mexico while their immigration proceedings are pending, rather than remain in the United States. On January 21, 2021, DHS stopped applying the protocols to newly-arrived individuals.)
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2025
This bill designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 107 North Hoyne Avenue in Fritch, Texas, as the "Chief Zeb Smith Post Office".
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2025
Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2025 This bill restricts federal funding for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. or any of its affiliates or clinics for one year. Specifically, it prohibits providing federal funding to those entities unless they certify that the affiliates and clinics will not perform, and will not provide funds to entities that perform, abortions during that year. If the certification requirement is not met, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture must recoup any federal assistance received by those entities. However, the bill's funding restriction does not apply to abortions performed in cases of rape or incest or when necessary to resolve a physical condition that endangers a woman's life. The bill also provides additional funding for community health centers for the one-year period. These funds are subject to the same abortion-related restrictions and exceptions.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2025
Justice for 9/11 Act This bill provides that any plea agreement entered into by Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash, or Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi for actions involving the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, and its related judgment must not preclude the trial of such individuals under other provisions of law for that attack. In any trial of such individuals, the death penalty must be available. In the case of any sentence imposed on Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash, or Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, the individual must (1) be held at U.S. Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in solitary confinement; (2) not be provided contact with foreign nationals; (3) not be provided with psychological treatment except that specifically authorized by medical authorities at Guantanamo Bay; and (4) not be transferred to the continental United States or any other country.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2025
National Law Enforcement Officers Remembrance, Support and Community Outreach Act. [ sic ] This bill temporarily directs the Department of the Interior to award a grant to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund for the expenses associated with operating and enhancing the community outreach, public education, and officer safety and wellness programs of the National Law Enforcement Museum.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2025
Federal Employee Return to Work Act This bill prohibits providing certain annual or locality-based pay increases to teleworking federal employees. Currently, federal law mandates annual adjustments to General Schedule (GS) pay rates according to (1) a formula based on the annual percentage change in the Employment Cost Index (a measure of labor costs in the private sector); and (2) the difference between public and private sector pay rates in an employee's locality, if that difference exceeds 5%. For example, in 2025, the default annual rate of pay for a GS-7 (step 1) employee is $49,960; the adjusted annual rate of pay for a GS-7 (step 1) employee in the locality pay area that includes Washington, DC, is $57,164. The bill makes executive agency employees who telework at least one day each week (or, in the case of an alternative work schedule, 20% or more each week) ineligible for these payments. The bill is effective on the first day of the fiscal year beginning after the bill's enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2025
This joint resolution proposes an amendment to the Constitution establishing term limits for individuals serving in the Senate and the House of Representatives. The proposed amendment makes an individual who has served two terms in the Senate ineligible for appointment or election to the Senate and an individual who has served three terms as a Member of the House of Representatives ineligible for election to the House of Representatives. The joint resolution provides that the amendment shall be valid when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states within seven years after the date of its submission for ratification. Under Article V of the Constitution, both chambers of Congress may propose an amendment by a vote of two-thirds of all Members present for such vote. A proposed amendment must be ratified by the states as prescribed in Article V and as specified by Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act This bill establishes a federal statutory framework to regulate the carry or possession of concealed firearms across state lines. Specifically, an individual who is eligible to carry a concealed firearm in one state may carry or possess a concealed handgun (other than a machine gun or destructive device) in another state that allows its residents to carry concealed firearms. It sets forth requirements for lawful concealed carry across state lines. The bill preempts most state and local laws related to concealed carry and establishes a private right of action for a person adversely affected by interference with a concealed-carry right established by this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
New Source Review Permitting Improvement Act This bill modifies terminology for purposes of the New Source Review (NSR) permitting program of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In order for a change to a stationary source to be a modification (a change to a stationary source that increases the air pollutant emissions or results in new pollutants) for purposes of the NSR permitting program, the maximum hourly emission rate achievable by such source must be higher than the maximum hourly rate achievable by such source during any hour in the 10-year period preceding the change. A change at a stationary source is not considered to be a modification under the bill if it is designed to (1) reduce the amount of any air pollutant emitted; or (2) restore, maintain, or improve the reliability of operations at, or safety of, the source. However, such changes are not excepted if the EPA determines the increase in the maximum achievable hourly emission rate from such change would cause an adverse effect on human health or the environment. Construction , in connection with a major emitting facility (a type of stationary source), does not include a change at such a facility that does not result in a significant emissions increase or a significant net emissions increase. In relation to major emitting facilities in nonattainment areas, the terms modifications and modified do not include changes at such facilities that do not result in a significant emissions increase or a significant net emissions increase.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act This bill establishes requirements for the degree of care a health care practitioner must provide in the case of a child born alive following an abortion or attempted abortion. Specifically, a health care practitioner who is present must (1) exercise the same degree of care as would reasonably be provided to any other child born alive at the same gestational age, and (2) ensure the child is immediately admitted to a hospital. Additionally, a health care practitioner or other employee who has knowledge of a failure to comply with the degree-of-care requirements must immediately report such failure to law enforcement. A health care practitioner who fails to provide the required degree of care, or a health care practitioner or other employee who fails to report such failure, is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, up to five years in prison, or both. An individual who intentionally kills or attempts to kill a child born alive is subject to prosecution for murder. The bill bars the criminal prosecution of a mother of a child born alive under this bill and allows her to bring a civil action against a health care practitioner or other employee for violations.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
TCJA Permanency Act This bill makes permanent multiple federal tax provisions enacted in 2017 by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The bill makes permanent the individual tax rates of 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37%; increased standard deduction; personal exemption allowance repeal; exclusion from income of student loans discharged due to death or disability; qualified business income tax deduction (199A tax deduction); allowance of ABLE account contributions in excess of the annual gift tax exclusion amount; base estate and gift tax exclusion amount of $10 million (adjusted annually); and alternative minimum tax exemption and phaseout amounts for noncorporate taxpayers. The bill makes permanent the child tax credit amounts of $2,000 per child and $500 for dependents, the $200,000 phaseout threshold ($400,000 for joint filers), and the refundable portion of the tax credit. The bill expands the expenses eligible for tax-free withdrawals from qualified tuition plans (529 plans) to include additional expenses associated with homeschool and elementary and secondary schools (e.g., instructional materials, tutoring, test and enrollment fees, and educational therapies). The bill permanently eliminates certain miscellaneous itemized deductions and makes permanent the state and local tax deduction limit of $10,000 ($5,000 for married individuals filing separately), mortgage interest tax deduction limit of $750,000 ($375,000 for married individuals filing separately), limit on the deduction of cash charitable contributions to 60% of a taxpayer’s adjusted gross income, and certain limits on casualty loss tax deductions. The bill also permanently eliminates the exclusion from income for employer-reimbursed bicycle commuting expenses.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Hershel "Woody" Williams National Medal of Honor Monument Location Act This bill requires the authorized monument honoring Medal of Honor recipients to be located within the Reserve (the great cross-axis of the National Mall, which generally extends from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial and from the White House to the Jefferson Memorial).
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Agent Raul Gonzalez Officer Safety Act This bill establishes new federal criminal offenses for operating a motor vehicle within 100 miles of the U.S. border while fleeing from a U.S. Border Patrol agent or a federal, state, or local law enforcement officer who is actively assisting or under the command of the U.S. Border Patrol. The bill establishes criminal penalties for an offense, including a mandatory minimum prison term for an offense resulting in death or serious bodily injury. Additionally, a non-U.S. national who is convicted of or admits to committing an offense is inadmissible, deportable, and ineligible for immigration relief (including asylum).
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act or the HALT Fentanyl Act This bill permanently places fentanyl-related substances as a class into schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. A schedule I controlled substance is a drug, substance, or chemical that has a high potential for abuse; has no currently accepted medical value; and is subject to regulatory controls and administrative, civil, and criminal penalties under the Controlled Substances Act. Under the bill, offenses involving fentanyl-related substances are triggered by the same quantity thresholds and subject to the same penalties as offenses involving fentanyl analogues (e.g., offenses involving 100 grams or more trigger a 10-year mandatory minimum prison term). Additionally, the bill establishes a new, alternative registration process for certain schedule I research. The bill also makes several other changes to registration requirements for conducting research with controlled substances, including permitting a single registration for related research sites in certain circumstances, waiving the requirement for a new inspection in certain situations, and allowing a registered researcher to perform certain manufacturing activities with small quantities of a substance without obtaining a manufacturing registration. Finally, the bill expresses the sense that Congress agrees with the interpretation of Controlled Substances Act in United States v. McCray , a 2018 case decided by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York. In that case, the court held that butyryl fentanyl, a controlled substance, can be considered an analogue of fentanyl even though, under the Controlled Substances Act, the term controlled substance analogue specifically excludes a controlled substance.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Firearm Industry Non-Discrimination Act or the FIND Act This bill prohibits the federal government from entering into contracts with an entity that discriminates against firearm trade associations or businesses that deal in firearms, ammunition, or related products. Specifically, the bill requires a federal agency to include in each contract for the procurement of goods or services awarded by the agency a clause requiring the prime contractor to certify that it (1) has no policy, practice, guidance, or directive that discriminates against a firearm entity or firearm trade association; and (2) will not adopt a policy, practice, guidance, or directive that discriminates against a firearm entity or firearm trade association during the term of the contract. The bill establishes (1) a similar requirement with respect to subcontracts, and (2) penalties for violations. The bill makes such prohibition inapplicable to a contract for the procurement of goods or services that is a sole-source contract.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Preventing Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act This bill establishes certain criminal grounds for making non-U.S. nationals ( aliens under federal law) inadmissible and expands the crimes for which a non-U.S. national is deportable. First, the bill establishes that a non-U.S. national is inadmissible if the individual has admitted to or is convicted of acts constituting the essential elements of stalking, child abuse, child neglect, child abandonment, a sex offense, conspiracy to commit a sex offense, a violation of certain protection orders, or domestic violence (including physical or sexual abuse or a pattern of coercive behavior when it occurs within certain close relationships). Next, the bill establishes additional grounds for deportation. Under current law, a non-U.S. national is deportable for certain criminal convictions, including domestic violence, stalking, and child abuse. The bill makes any sex offense (including crimes against minors) or conspiracy to commit a sex offense a basis for deportation. The bill also expands the domestic violence crimes that make a non-U.S. national deportable to include physical or sexual abuse or a pattern of coercive behavior when it occurs within certain close relationships.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act This bill imposes sanctions against foreign persons (individuals and entities) who assist the International Criminal Court (ICC) in investigating, arresting, detaining, or prosecuting certain individuals. The bill categorizes as protected persons (1) any U.S. individual, U.S. entity, or person in the United States, unless the United States is a state party to the Rome Statute of the ICC and provides formal consent to ICC jurisdiction; and (2) any foreign person that is a citizen or lawful resident of a U.S. ally that is not a state party to the Rome Statute or has not consented to ICC jurisdiction. If the ICC attempts to investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute a protected person, the President must impose visa- and property-blocking sanctions against the foreign persons that engaged in or materially assisted in such actions, as well as against foreign persons owned by, controlled by, or acting on behalf of such foreign persons. The President must also apply visa-blocking sanctions to the immediate family members of those sanctioned. Upon enactment, the bill rescinds all funds appropriated for the ICC and prohibits the subsequent use of appropriated funds for the ICC.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
No Congressional Funds for Sanctuary Cities Act This bill prohibits federal funds from being used as congressionally directed spending (i.e., an earmark) for jurisdictions that withhold information about citizenship or immigration status or do not cooperate with immigration detainers. Specifically, such funds are denied to any jurisdiction that has a law, policy, or practice that prohibits or restricts any government entity from maintaining, sending, or receiving information regarding the citizenship or immigration status of any individual; exchanging information regarding an individual's citizenship or immigration status with a federal, state, or local government entity; complying with a valid immigration detainer from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); or notifying DHS about an individual's release from custody. The funding restriction does not apply to a law, policy, or practice that only applies to an individual who comes forward as a victim of or a witness to a criminal offense. This prohibition begins in FY2026.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act This bill rescinds unobligated funds that were provided by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for enforcement activities related to the determination and collection of taxes, for operations support for taxpayer services and enforcement activities, and for a task force to research options for a free, direct electronic filing (e-filing) tax return system. The bill also rescinds unobligated funds that were provided by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 for expenses of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, Office of Tax Policy, U.S. Tax Court, and offices within the Department of the Treasury that provide oversight and support for the IRS.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act or the SAVE Act This bill requires individuals to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections. Specifically, the bill prohibits states from accepting and processing an application to register to vote in a federal election unless the applicant presents documentary proof of U.S. citizenship. The bill specifies what documents are considered acceptable proof of U.S. citizenship, such as identification that complies with the REAL ID Act of 2005 that indicates U.S. citizenship. Further, the bill (1) prohibits states from registering an individual to vote in a federal election unless, at the time the individual applies to register to vote, the individual provides documentary proof of U.S. citizenship; and (2) requires states to establish an alternative process under which an applicant may submit other evidence to demonstrate U.S. citizenship. Each state must take affirmative steps on an ongoing basis to ensure that only U.S. citizens are registered to vote, which shall include establishing a program to identify individuals who are not U.S. citizens using information supplied by certain sources. Additionally, states must remove noncitizens from their official lists of eligible voters. The bill allows for a private right of action against an election official who registers an applicant to vote in a federal election who fails to present documentary proof of U.S. citizenship. The bill establishes criminal penalties for certain offenses, including registering an applicant to vote in a federal election who fails to present documentary proof of U.S. citizenship.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2025 This bill generally prohibits school athletic programs from allowing individuals whose biological sex at birth was male to participate in programs that are for women or girls. Specifically, the bill provides that it is a violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 for federally funded education programs or activities to operate, sponsor, or facilitate athletic programs or activities that allow individuals of the male sex to participate in programs or activities that are designated for women or girls. (Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in federally funded education programs or activities, including in public elementary and secondary schools and in colleges and universities.) Under the bill, sex is based on an individual's reproductive biology and genetics at birth. The bill does not prohibit male individuals from training or practicing with programs or activities for women or girls as long as such training or practice does not deprive any female of corresponding opportunities or benefits. The Government Accountability Office must report on the benefits for women or girls in single-sex sports that would be lost as a result of male participation. In particular, the report must document the negative psychological, developmental, participatory, and sociological effects of male participation on girls.
