Legislation

The Working for Immigrant Safety and Empowerment (WISE) Act aims to strengthen protections and streamline legal pathways for non-citizen survivors of crime and abuse, including domestic violence and trafficking. The bill reforms the U-visa program by eliminating its annual cap and speeding up work authorization for victims. It also establishes new protections against detention and deportation for victims with pending humanitarian applications and expands access to public benefits for certain lawfully present noncitizens.

The Warrant for Metadata Act mandates that the government must obtain a warrant to access both the content and associated metadata records held by electronic communication and remote computing service providers. This legislation eliminates previous exceptions that allowed access to older stored communications without a warrant. Essentially, it standardizes the requirement for a judicially approved warrant for nearly all government requests for customer data.

The End Judge Shopping Act aims to prevent litigants from strategically filing lawsuits seeking nationwide injunctions against federal laws or rules in courts with fewer judges. This legislation mandates that such broad-impact cases must be filed in a division of a judicial district that has at least two active judges. The goal is to ensure these significant legal challenges are heard in courts with broader judicial capacity.

The Preparing and Resourcing Our Student Parents and Early Childhood Teachers Act establishes significant grant programs to improve access to high-quality infant and toddler care, prioritizing student parents at community colleges and minority-serving institutions. It also amends the Child Care and Development Block Grant to expand eligibility for college students seeking assistance and incentivizes states to increase reimbursement rates for infant and toddler care. Finally, the bill mandates that schools proactively inform student parents about the dependent care allowance available through federal financial aid applications.

The Postal Service Transparency and Review Act requires the U.S. Postal Service to submit any proposed significant changes to mail service to the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) for review at least 180 days in advance. The USPS cannot spend money or implement the change until the PRC issues an advisory opinion. Furthermore, Congress retains the authority to disapprove of the proposed change through a joint resolution following the PRC's review.

The Small Business Energy Loan Enhancement Act significantly increases the maximum loan amounts available to eligible small businesses under specific Small Business Administration (SBA) programs, raising the limit from $\$5.5$ million to $\$10$ million. This legislation also mandates that the SBA report annually to Congress detailing the industries and geographic areas benefiting from these enhanced loan categories. The goal is to provide greater financial resources for small businesses through SBA lending.

The VA DATA Access Transparency and Accountability Act of 2025 strictly limits access to sensitive veteran data held by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). This bill specifically prohibits the DOGE Service Administrator from accessing any veteran records. Furthermore, it imposes tight restrictions on special government employees, ensuring they only use the data for approved official business and cannot retain any copies after their service ends.

The Infrastructure Project Acceleration Act aims to rapidly advance major domestic manufacturing projects valued at over one billion dollars. This legislation expedites construction by waiving certain federal environmental permits and streamlining the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review process. Furthermore, the bill severely limits judicial review of agency approvals for these priority projects to prevent delays from lawsuits.

The Selena Commemorative Coin Act authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue special $5 gold, $1 silver, and half-dollar clad coins honoring the late Tejano music star Selena Quintanilla. These collector coins, which must feature her image, will be available for sale only during the calendar year 2029. All surcharges collected from the sales will be directed to the Friends of the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History to support its operations, including a Selena exhibit. The Treasury must ensure the program fully covers all production and issuance costs before any surcharge funds are distributed.

This bill authorizes the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to hear a specific land claim brought by the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma regarding land in Illinois, overriding standard time limits for filing. The Tribe must file this claim within one year of the Act becoming law. Successfully settling this claim will resolve all other past, present, and future land claims the Tribe may have concerning Illinois territory.

The Union Station Redevelopment Corporation Funding Eligibility Act makes the Corporation eligible to receive specific federal transportation grants, including BUILD, National Infrastructure Project Assistance, Rail Improvement and Safety, and Passenger Rail grants. A key provision across all these programs is that any funding awarded to the Corporation will cover 100 percent of the project costs, eliminating any local matching requirement. This legislation streamlines federal funding access for Union Station redevelopment projects.

The Fair College Admissions for Students Act prohibits colleges and universities that receive federal student aid from giving preferential treatment in admissions based on an applicant's family legacy or past donor contributions. This legislation aims to ensure that admissions decisions are not influenced by an applicant's relationship to alumni or their family's financial support for the institution. The ban will take effect starting with the second award year following the law's enactment.

The Defend American Manufacturing Act ensures the continued operation of the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) beyond 2024 by mandating the Secretary of Commerce to renew and award grants to MEP centers annually. This legislation also amends the NIST Act to convert a previously optional action for NIST into a mandatory requirement. Overall, the bill strengthens support for domestic manufacturing infrastructure.

The Bolstering Research And Innovation Now (BRAIN) Act aims to significantly advance the fight against brain tumors by increasing research funding and improving patient access to care. This legislation establishes new networks for glioblastoma research, creates a public database for tracking biospecimens, and launches a national awareness campaign about clinical trials. Furthermore, the Act funds pilot programs to improve long-term care for survivors and directs the FDA to ensure brain tumor patients are not unfairly excluded from relevant clinical trials.

The FEMA Loan Interest Payment Relief Act establishes a program for FEMA to reimburse local governments and electric cooperatives for interest paid on specific disaster recovery loans. This reimbursement is capped at the lesser of the actual interest paid or the interest calculated using the Federal Reserve's prime rate. The law mandates FEMA to quickly establish procedures for states to apply for reimbursement of qualifying interest paid up to nine years prior to enactment.

The Family Cord Blood Banking Act amends the tax code to allow individuals to treat payments for private umbilical cord blood or tissue banking services as deductible medical expenses. This change makes the cost of utilizing accredited private cord blood banks potentially tax-deductible for federal tax years beginning after December 31, 2024.

The Adoption Tax Credit Refundability Act of 2025 makes the existing tax credit for adoption expenses fully refundable, meaning taxpayers can receive the excess credit amount as a refund. This is achieved by renumbering the credit section and updating related tax code references. The bill also mandates new regulations for verifying adoptions via standardized affidavits. These changes will apply to tax years beginning after December 31, 2025.

The Retirement Freedom Act grants individuals the option to voluntarily opt out of automatic Medicare Part A coverage. This legislation ensures that choosing to opt out will not affect Social Security benefits. Furthermore, individuals can reverse this decision later without incurring any penalties.

The Gas-Operated Semi-Automatic Firearms Exclusion Act (GOSAFE Act) prohibits the manufacture, sale, and possession of certain gas-operated semi-automatic firearms and large-capacity ammunition feeding devices (over 10 rounds). The bill establishes a formal process managed by the Attorney General and ATF to list prohibited firearms, while grandfathering existing possessions under strict transfer rules. Furthermore, it permits states to use federal Byrne grants for voluntary buy-back programs targeting these newly restricted items. Violations carry significant fines and potential prison sentences.

The TAME Extreme Weather and Wildfires Act mandates the use of advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) to modernize weather forecasting, improve severe weather information delivery, and develop specialized AI models for wildfire prediction. The bill focuses on creating high-quality, AI-ready training datasets and ensuring federal employees have the necessary expertise to utilize these new tools effectively. Furthermore, it establishes requirements for open access to resulting data and code, while balancing security and proprietary concerns.