United States · United States Congress · 9 December 2025
Safeguarding Americans from Fraudulent and Experimental Drugs Act of 2025 or the SAFE Drugs Act of 2025 This bill provides for increased oversight of drug compounding and imposes statutory limits on compounded drugs that are essentially copies of commercially available drugs. Currently, subject to certain requirements, compounded drugs (i.e., drugs that are mixed or altered to meet patient needs) do not require Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. Additional limits apply to the compounding of drugs that are essentially copies of commercially available drug products. Under the bill, a compounded drug is essentially a copy of a commercially available drug product if (1) the compounded drug contains any active ingredient found in a commercially available drug product, and (2) there is no change made for an individual patient that results in a significant difference between the compounded drug and the commercially available drug. (The FDA’s current definition of the term also addresses dosage strength and route of administration.) The bill increases the frequency at which a licensed pharmacist or physician may compound a drug that is essentially a copy of a commercially available drug to 20 times per month. Current FDA policy allows four such prescriptions per month. The bill also imposes annual reporting requirements on physicians, facilities, and pharmacies (except hospital-based pharmacies) that compound certain drug products for out-of-state patients more than 20 times per month. Further, the bill subjects certain large-scale outsourcing facilities (i.e., FDA-registered facilities that compound in bulk) to regular inspection and reporting requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 21 October 2025
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.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 2025
Equal Campus Access Act of 2025 This bill prohibits funding made available under the Higher Education Act of 1965 from being provided to any public institution of higher education (IHE) that denies certain campus rights to religious student organizations. Specifically, the bill prohibits a public IHE from receiving these funds if it denies a religious student organization any right, benefit, or privilege that is otherwise afforded to other student organizations at the IHE because of the religious student organization's beliefs, practices, speech, leadership standards, or standards of conduct.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 2025
Dismantle Foreign Scam Syndicates Act This bill requires the President to (1) impose applicable sanctions on foreign persons (individuals or entities) responsible for online financial scams against U.S. nationals, and (2) establish an interagency task force to shut down the criminal syndicates perpetuating such scams. Under the bill, the President must determine whether 43 specified foreign persons, and any other foreign persons the President determines are responsible for or complicit in online financial scams against U.S. nationals, are subject to sanctions under specified laws and Executive Order 13581 . Upon such determination, the President must impose applicable sanctions (for example, blocking the sanctioned person's property transactions within the United States). The President must also establish an interagency task force to shut down transnational criminal syndicates that use large scam centers and forced labor of trafficked persons to perpetuate mass online scams against Americans. The task force must (1) submit a comprehensive strategy to Congress to combat these scam centers and dismantle the criminal elements involved with them, and (2) coordinate and oversee implementation of the strategy. Within 360 days of submitting the strategy to Congress and annually thereafter for five years the task force must submit to Congress a report addressing various topics related to such scam centers including a list of all foreign persons sanctioned by the United States for their scam center involvement. The Department of State is authorized to provide trauma-informed care, shelter, reintegration, and support services for victims of trafficking in persons within online scam centers.
United States · United States Congress · 16 September 2025
Pay Our Troops Act of 2026 This bill provides continuing appropriations for military pay for any period during which interim or full-year appropriations for FY2026 are not in effect (i.e., a government shutdown). Specifically, the bill provides FY2026 continuing appropriations for the pay and allowances of (1) members of the Armed Forces, including reserve components, who perform active service during the period; and (2) civilian personnel and contractors of the Department of Defense (and the Department of Homeland Security in the case of the Coast Guard) who are providing support to such members of the Armed Forces. If a government shutdown occurs, the bill provides the continuing appropriations until the earlier of (1) the enactment into law of specified appropriations legislation, or (2) January 1, 2027.
United States · United States Congress · 16 September 2025
This resolution (1) condemns the assassination of Charles "Charlie" James Kirk and all forms of political violence; and (2) honors the life, leadership, and legacy of Charlie Kirk.
United States · United States Congress · 8 September 2025
Retire through Ownership Act This bill allows the fiduciary of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) to rely on a valuation provided by an independent valuation or business appraiser in determining the fair market value of the plan's securities if the securities are not traded on a national securities exchange (i.e., not publicly traded) and the expert or appraiser follows specified methodologies. In general, ESOPs are defined contribution pension plans where employees accrue shares of their employers' stock in individual accounts as part of their compensation. After separating from employment or retiring, employees receive the cash value of their shares. Under the bill, an independent appraiser or expert must adhere to the methodology established under the Internal Revenue Service Ruling 59-60, which prescribes the factors a professional business appraiser should consider in forming a valuation of the stock for a closely held business.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 2025
Focused Assistance and Skills Training for Veterans' Employment and Transition Success Act or the FAST VETS Act This bill establishes conditions under which a veteran's individualized vocational rehabilitation plan (under the Veteran Readiness and Employment program) must be redeveloped. The program provides job training and employment-related services to veterans with service-connected disabilities. Currently, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) must formulate and annually review an individualized vocational rehabilitation plan for veterans who have a serious employment handicap and have a reasonably feasible vocational goal. The bill provides that such plan must be redeveloped with the veteran if the VA determines the achievement of the long-range rehabilitation goals for the veteran are no longer feasible due to changes in the employment handicap of the veteran and are more likely under a different plan.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 2025
Locating Every Disbursement in Government Expenditure Records Act or the LEDGER Act This bill requires the Department of the Treasury to implement a system that tracks all outlays from each appropriation, receipt, or other fund account in the Treasury by each department, agency, office, or other establishment in the executive, legislative, or judicial branches of the federal government. The system must also track the period of availability of the amounts in the applicable appropriation, receipt, or other fund account.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 2025
Accreditation Choice and Innovation Act This bill revises the accreditation process for reviewing the quality of education offered by institutions of higher education (IHEs). Under current law, an IHE seeking to participate in many federal programs (e.g., federal student aid programs) must be accredited by an agency recognized by the Department of Education (ED) as a reliable authority on the quality of the education being offered at the IHE. An ED-recognized accrediting agency must meet various provisions under the Higher Education Act of 1965 and in regulations. Under this bill, states may designate an entity (e.g., an industry-specific quality assurance entity) as an accrediting agency for programs or IHEs in the state. The bill outlines the requirements for the state to submit a plan to ED and for ED to respond to the plan. Additionally, the bill provides an accelerated path to recognition by authorizing ED to recognize new accrediting agencies within two years of their application. ED must convene a panel of experts to develop common terminology for accrediting agencies to use in making accrediting decisions and publish those recommendations. Further, the bill (1) requires accrediting agencies to establish specified standards for measures assessing student success (e.g., labor market outcomes), and (2) requires accrediting agencies to establish procedures for assessing compliance with agency standards that reflect an IHE's risk of losing accreditation. The bill reauthorizes through September 30, 2028, and revises the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity, which advises ED on matters related to accreditation.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 2025
Returning Illegals over Turmoil Act This bill establishes grounds for removal from, and future inadmissibility to, the United States for non-U.S. nationals ( aliens under federal law) who incite violence, participate in a riot or civil disturbance, or commit certain other acts while in the United States. Specifically, if, at the time of the offense, an individual is unlawfully present in the United States, a recipient of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status, or a lawful permanent resident, that individual is deportable and permanently inadmissible to the United States. This applies to such individuals convicted of, or who have admitted to having committed acts that constitute incitement to violence or physical participation in a riot or civil disturbance under federal, state, or local law; an actual or attempted assault, battery, or use of force against a law enforcement officer or a member of the Armed Forces of the United States; or the willful destruction, defacement, or vandalism of property owned or operated by a federal, state, or local government. The Department of Homeland Security may designate such offenses as grounds for expedited removal during specified types of declared emergencies. The bill also requires the detention of these individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 2025
Fighting Irrational Regulatory Enforcement to Avert Retailers’ Misfortune Act or the FIREARM Act This bill prohibits the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) from bringing an enforcement action to revoke or deny renewal of a federal firearms license on the basis of a self-reported violation that is correctable, so long as the violation did not involve the transfer of a firearm to a prohibited person. The term self-reported violation means a violation of a statutory provision or implementing regulation by a federal firearms licensee (e.g., a gun dealer) that the licensee reports to the ATF before it is discovered during a compliance inspection. The bill applies retroactively.
United States · United States Congress · 29 May 2025
Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 or the CLARITY Act of 2025 This bill establishes a regulatory framework for digital commodities, defined by the bill as digital assets that rely upon a blockchain for their value. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission must generally regulate digital commodities transactions, including digital commodity exchanges, brokers, and dealers. To qualify for trade on an exchange (1) a digital commodity’s blockchain must be mature, or on a blockchain system that has achieved decentralized control as defined by the bill; or (2) the issuer of the digital commodity must file certain reports. The bill establishes requirements for trade monitoring, recordkeeping, and the commingling of customer assets. The bill exempts digital commodities on mature blockchains (and digital commodities on blockchains expected to mature within certain timeframes) from Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registration requirements if annual sales fall under a certain amount and other requirements are met. The bill provides the SEC with jurisdiction over digital commodity activities and transactions engaged in by certain brokers and dealers on alternative trading systems and by national securities exchanges. Digital commodity exchanges, brokers, and dealers are subject to the Bank Secrecy Act for anti-money laundering and related purposes. The bill also sets forth requirements for alternative trading systems, previously issued digital commodities, and provisional registration until the bill is implemented. For more information on this bill, see CRS Insight IN12583, Crypto Legislation: An Overview of H.R. 3633, the CLARITY Act .
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 2025
Improving Seniors' Timely Access to Care Act of 2025 This bill establishes several requirements and standards relating to prior authorization processes under Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. Specifically, MA plans must (1) establish an electronic prior authorization program that meets specified standards; (2) annually submit to the CMS for publication specified prior authorization information, including the percentage of requests approved and the average response time; and (3) meet other standards, as set by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), relating to the quality and timeliness of prior authorization determinations. The CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology must publish on the CMS' website a report that analyzes the information received from MA plans, the feasibility of implementing real-time decision making with respect to prior authorization requests, and the impact of decisions that are made using artificial intelligence on patient access.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 2025
Medal of Sacrifice Act of 2025 This bill directs the President to issue a medal of sacrifice for eligible law enforcement officers and first responders who are killed in the line of duty. The bill also directs the President to establish a commission on the medal of sacrifice and appoint its members. The bill sets forth responsibilities of the commission, including to advise on the design of the medal and determine how the medal will be presented. Under the bill, eligible law enforcement officers and first responders include federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial law enforcement officers or first responders who are not subject to an official act of wrongdoing (e.g., a determination that the officer or first responder acted outside the scope of their duties or in a manner that was not in accordance with official policies or procedures). A law enforcement officer or first responder who is subject to an official act of wrongdoing is generally not eligible for the medal of sacrifice. However, in the case of such an officer or first responder, the bill requires the commission to investigate the circumstances surrounding the officer or first responder's cause of death and issue a final determination on their eligibility.
![Official portrait of Rep. Messmer, Mark B. [R-IN-8]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/677448630b34857ecc909125_200.jpg)