United States · United States Congress · 5 June 2025
Treat and Reduce Obesity Act of 2025 This bill expands Medicare coverage of intensive behavioral therapy for obesity. Specifically, the bill allows coverage for therapy that is provided by (1) a physician who is not a primary care physician; or (2) other health care providers (e.g., physician assistants and nurse practitioners) and approved counseling programs, if provided upon a referral from, and in coordination with, a physician or primary care practitioner. Currently, such therapy is covered only if provided by a primary care practitioner. The bill also allows coverage under Medicare's prescription drug benefit of drugs used for the treatment of obesity or for weight loss management for individuals who are overweight.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 2025
Emergency Disaster Relief Fund Act of 2025 This bill provides FY2025 supplemental appropriations to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF). (The DRF is the primary funding source for federal programs for disaster response, recovery, and mitigation.) The amounts provided by the bill are designated as emergency spending pursuant to the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (PAYGO) and other congressional budget enforcement procedures. (This generally excludes the budget effects from being counted for the purposes of congressional budget enforcement procedures.)
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 2025
Combating Violent and Dangerous Crime Act This bill expands the definition of crime of violence for the purposes of determining whether a defendant is subject to an enhanced criminal penalty for using or carrying a firearm in the crime of violence. The bill also expands applicable criminal penalties for bank robbery, carjacking, and kidnapping offenses, as well as certain drug offenses. Under current law, an individual who uses or carries a firearm in a crime of violence is subject to an enhanced mandatory minimum prison term in addition and consecutive to any other prison term imposed for the underlying crime of violence. The term crime of violence includes a felony that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force. This bill expands crime of violence to include a conspiracy or an attempt to commit a felony that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force. This bill expands applicable penalties for federal criminal offenses involving bank robbery, carjacking, or kidnapping, including by specifying the offenses that include as an element force or threat, or intimidation, and therefore qualify as a crime of violence under the existing definition. Additionally, a conspiracy or attempt to commit a federal bank robbery, carjacking or kidnapping offense qualifies as a crime of violence under the expanded definition. Finally, the bill establishes additional criminal penalties for certain federal drug offenses involving the manufacture or distribution of candy-flavored controlled substances or similar products for minors.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 2025
Strengthening Agency Management and Oversight of Software Assets Act This bill requires federal agencies to assess their software inventory and develop software management plans. The bill requires each agency (which includes any executive department, military department, or other establishment in the executive branch) to complete a comprehensive assessment of the software paid for by, in use at, or deployed throughout the agency. The assessment must include information such as (1) the current inventory of software; (2) contracts and other arrangements used to acquire, build, deploy, or use the software; (3) costs and fees not included in the initial contract or agreement; and (4) the interoperability of the software and restrictions on its use. Each agency must use their assessment to develop a plan to consolidate software entitlements, develop procedures for cost-effective acquisition strategies, and restrict subordinate entities from using any software entitlement without approval. (A software entitlement is software that has been purchased, leased, or licensed by or billed to an agency and that is subject to use limitations.) Such plans must be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Congress. Within two years of enactment, OMB must submit recommendations to Congress regarding government software procurement policies and practices to • increase the interoperability of software licenses, • consolidate licenses when appropriate, • reduce costs, • improve performance, and • modernize the management and oversight of agency software. The GAO must report on certain related topics, including governmentwide trends in agency software asset management practices and comparisons of such practices among agencies.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 2025
Care for Military Kids Act This bill requires a state Medicaid program to consider active-duty members of the Armed Forces and their dependents who are receiving home- and community-based services to be residents of that state even if they are relocated to another state because of their military service, unless the member chooses not to be considered as such. The requirement applies beginning in 2028. The bill provides funds through FY2030 for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to implement the bill.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 2025
Stratton Ridge Air Force Memorial Act This bill authorizes the Forest Service to relocate a memorial in North Carolina honoring the nine Air Force crew members who lost their lives in an airplane crash in the Cherokee and Nantahala National Forests during a training mission on August 31, 1982, if the owner of the private land where the memorial is currently located consents. The Forest Service may relocate the memorial to an appropriate site at the Stratton Ridge rest area located at mile marker 2 on the Cherohala Skyway in Graham County, North Carolina, in the Nantahala National Forest. The site must be approved by (1) the North Carolina Department of Transportation, and (2) the Federal Highway Administration if the site is located adjacent to a federal-aid highway.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 2025
Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act of 2025 This bill permanently extends and expands judicial authority under the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act of 2016. The law allows and establishes procedures for civil claims and causes of action to recover artwork and other property lost between 1933 and 1945 because of Nazi persecution. Among the changes, the bill removes the deadline for filing civil claims or causes of action. Currently, the filing deadline is December 31, 2026. (Claims must still be filed within six years of the claimant's discovery of the property in question.) The bill permits courts to exercise jurisdiction over civil claims or causes of action against a foreign state without regard to the nationality or citizenship of the alleged victim. The art or property at issue must still have a connection to the foreign state's commercial activities in the United States. Additionally, the bill authorizes nationwide service of process, which allows courts to exercise personal jurisdiction over defendants in any judicial district where they may be found, reside, have an agent, or transact business. Finally, the bill limits the defenses that may be asserted against civil claims or causes of action, including by prohibiting defenses based on the passage of time, including equitable defenses such as laches (i.e., unreasonable delays); and discretionary bases for dismissal that are unrelated to the merits of the claim, including international comity (i.e., deference to the laws of other countries). These changes apply to pending and future civil claims or causes of action.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2025
Strengthening Transparency and Obligations to Protect Children Suffering from Abuse and Mistreatment Act of 2025 or the STOP CSAM Act of 2025 This bill revises the federal framework governing the prevention of online child sexual exploitation to expand protections for victims, expand requirements for electronic communication service providers and remote computing service providers (providers), and expand related penalties and remedies. The bill extends protections for child victims and witnesses who testify in federal court (e.g., privacy protections) to child victims and witnesses of kidnapping offenses and to child victims and witnesses who were under 18 years of age at the time of the crime, even if they are 18 or older at the time of court proceedings. Additionally, the bill establishes statutory procedures for courts to appoint a trustee to hold restitution payments for certain victims (e.g., minor victims) of offenses involving human trafficking, sexual abuse, child sexual abuse material, illegal sexual activity and related crimes, or crimes of violence. The bill requires providers to report online child sexual exploitation to the CyberTipline (i.e., the national reporting system for online child sexual exploitation) within 60 days. Reports must include specified information, such as information about repeat offenders. The bill establishes criminal and civil penalties for providers who fail to comply with the requirements. Finally, the bill prohibits providers from hosting or storing child pornography or knowingly facilitating the sexual exploitation of children and allows victims to pursue civil remedies.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2025
Second Chance Reauthorization Act of 2025 This bill reauthorizes through FY2030 various federal grants for state, local, and tribal governments, nonprofit organizations, and service providers to support individuals who reenter the community following a period of incarceration. Specifically, the bill reauthorizes the following: grants for adult and juvenile offender reentry demonstration projects; grants for family-based substance abuse treatment programs; grants to evaluate and improve educational methods at prisons, jails, and juvenile facilities; grants for career training education; the offender reentry substance abuse and criminal justice collaboration program; and grants to nonprofit organizations for community-based mentoring and transitional services.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 2025
Drone Espionage Act This bill makes it a federal crime under the Espionage Act to engage in certain activities related to obtaining, receiving, or transmitting video of national defense information. The term national defense information means information or other material that is related to national defense. The Espionage Act prohibits certain activities related to obtaining, receiving, or transmitting national defense information that could harm the United States or aid a foreign nation. Under current law, the prohibitions only apply if national defense information is obtained, received, or transmitted by certain means, such as a sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blueprint, plan, map, model, instrument, appliance, document, writing, or note. Under current law, a violator is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, a prison term of up to 10 years, or both. This bill makes the criminal prohibitions under the Espionage Act applicable if national defense information is obtained, received, or transmitted by means of video. Under this bill, a violator is subject to the same penalties as under existing law—a fine, a prison term of up to 10 years, or both.
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 · 14 May 2025
Kids Online Safety Act This bill requires covered online platforms, including social media platforms, to implement tools and safeguards to protect users and visitors under the age of 17. Covered platforms are online platforms, video games, messaging applications, or video streaming services used or likely to be used by individuals under the age of 17, with specified exceptions. The bill generally requires covered platforms to exercise reasonable care in the design and use of features that increase minors’ online activity in order to prevent and mitigate harm to minors (e.g., mental health disorders and severe harassment). Covered platforms are also required to provide certain safeguards to minors, such as protections for minors’ data; tools for parents of minors, such as access to minors’ privacy settings; and a mechanism for account holders and visitors to report harm to minors on the platform. Covered platforms are prohibited from conducting market or product research on children under the age of 13, and may only conduct such research on those under the age of 17 with parental consent. The bill provides for enforcement through the Federal Trade Commission and states. The bill also requires online platforms to meet certain requirements before using algorithms that select, order, or prioritize information presented to users based on user-specific data not provided for that purpose. Specifically, such platforms must (1) provide users with notice of the use of such algorithms, and (2) permit users to switch to an algorithm that does not rely on such user-specific data.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 2025
Supersonic Aviation Modernization Act This bill directs the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to allow civil aircraft to operate at speeds above Mach 1 (i.e., supersonic) over land in the United States under certain conditions. Specifically, the FAA must issue or revise regulations to allow for the operation of civil aircraft at speeds greater than Mach 1 in the national airspace system without a special authorization, so long as no sonic boom reaches the ground in the United States. Current regulations prohibit civil aircraft from operating above Mach 1 speeds over land in the United States without a special flight authorization issued by the FAA.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 2025
Due Process Continuity of Care Act This bill allows an otherwise eligible individual who is in custody pending disposition of charges (i.e., pretrial detainees) to receive Medicaid benefits at the option of the state. The bill also provides for state planning grants to support the provision of such benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 2025
Chip Security Act This bill requires covered integrated circuit products (e.g., advanced computing chips) to incorporate certain security mechanisms. Specifically, the bill directs the Department of Commerce to require any covered integrated circuit product to have chip security mechanisms that implement location verification before the product is exported, reexported, or in-country transferred to or in a foreign country. Commerce must require any person that has received a license or other authorization under the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 to export, reexport, or in-country transfer a covered product to promptly report to Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security if the person obtains credible information that the product has been diverted away from its intended location or has been subjected to tampering. Commerce must, in coordination with the Department of Defense (DOD), conduct an assessment and report to Congress on whether additional chip security mechanisms should be adopted. If Commerce determines additional security measures are necessary, then Commerce must require any covered product to include the secondary chip security mechanisms before the product is exported, reexported, or in-country transferred to or in a foreign country. The bill authorizes Commerce to take certain enforcement actions, such as verifying the ownership and location of a covered product that has been exported, reexported, or in-country transferred to or in a foreign country. Commerce must coordinate with DOD, within two years of the bill's enactment and annually thereafter for three years, to assess new chip security mechanisms and report to Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 2025
INvestor Democracy is EXpected Act or the INDEX Act This bill establishes guidelines for passively managed funds (e.g., index funds) that vote shares on behalf of fund investors in proxy shareholder votes. Under the bill, these funds generally must vote shares on a proportional basis according to instructions from fund investors. The bill establishes an exemption for routine matters and matters requiring approval of a majority of outstanding securities. Additionally, the bill establishes a safe harbor from these requirements for investment advisers.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 2025
Bankruptcy Administration Improvement Act of 2025 This bill makes several changes to the administration of bankruptcy cases, particularly by increasing certain fees, extending the sunset date of various fees, and extending the term of specified bankruptcy judgeships. The bill increases the fees paid to the trustee in Chapter 7 (liquidation) cases. The bill extends for an additional five years the fees paid quarterly to the U.S. trustee in Chapter 11 (reorganization) cases. The bill also increases the fee percentage for cases with large disbursements, subject to limitations. Finally, temporary bankruptcy judgeships in various districts are extended for an additional five years.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 2025
Improving Police Critical Aid for Responding to Emergencies Act or the Improving Police CARE Act This bill requires the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) within the Department of Justice to develop and publish performance standards for trauma kits that are eligible to be purchased using funds under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program. Additionally, the BJA must develop and publish best practices for the use, deployment, and maintenance of trauma kits by law enforcement agencies.