Legislation

The Infrastructure Expansion Act of 2025 significantly alters liability standards for injuries on federally funded infrastructure projects involving height or gravity risks. This bill replaces strict or absolute liability with a comparative negligence standard for covered persons injured on these sites. Consequently, an injured worker's compensation will be reduced based on their own percentage of fault, overriding conflicting state laws. This new federal standard applies to projects receiving federal financial assistance beginning January 1, 2026.

The Prescription Drug Price Relief Act of 2025 establishes a process for identifying brand-name drugs priced excessively high in the U.S. by comparing them to international prices and other factors. If a drug is deemed overpriced, the Act immediately revokes its government-granted monopolies, allowing generic competition through open licensing. Manufacturers will face strict new annual reporting requirements regarding pricing, R&D costs, and marketing, with penalties for non-compliance.

The Regulatory Accountability Act significantly overhauls the federal rulemaking process to increase transparency and rigor in agency decision-making. It establishes new definitions for "Major Rule" and "Major Guidance" based on economic impact and mandates comprehensive cost-benefit analyses and exploration of alternatives for significant regulations. Furthermore, the Act imposes strict communication restrictions during rulemaking and requires agencies to establish post-implementation assessment frameworks for major rules, limiting judicial review primarily to compliance with these procedural documentation requirements.

The Reaffirming Unified Boundaries for Integrity and Oversight Act (RUBIO Act) explicitly prohibits the Secretary of State from simultaneously holding or carrying out the duties of any other Federal position. This legislation ensures the Secretary's focus remains solely on their diplomatic responsibilities. Furthermore, the Act bars the expenditure of any federal funds for dual roles held by the Secretary of State.

The CLEAR Defense Production Act of 2025 overhauls the Defense Production Act Committee by placing a senior Department of Commerce official in charge to enhance coordination and review of all DPA authorities. This bill mandates the creation of a public, electronic registry tracking every use of DPA authorities by federal agencies, detailing the justification and national defense goal achieved. The goal is to improve accountability, planning, and transparency regarding the government's use of these critical economic powers.

The DEFIANCE Act of 2025 establishes a federal civil cause of action against the creation, possession with intent to share, or sharing of nonconsensual intimate digital forgeries, often known as deepfakes. This legislation updates existing law to specifically address image-based sexual abuse created through AI or digital manipulation, regardless of whether the image is labeled as fake. Victims can sue for significant statutory damages, attorney's fees, and injunctive relief to stop the spread of the harmful content. The Act ensures that this new federal standard does not preempt or limit stronger existing State or Tribal laws.

The Black Vulture Relief Act of 2025 authorizes livestock producers and their employees to take action against black vultures that are harming or threatening livestock or related property. This provision allows for the capture, killing, or dispersal of the birds, provided that poisoning is strictly prohibited. Those who take action must report the activity to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service once the required reporting form is made available.

This bill, the Tackling Predatory Litigation Funding Act, establishes a new, high federal tax on the profits earned by third-party investors in lawsuits, known as litigation financing. The tax is applied at the highest individual income tax rate plus an additional 3.8 percentage points on "qualified litigation proceeds." To ensure compliance, the law mandates that parties or their attorneys withhold 50% of this tax from payments made to the funder. Importantly, while taxing the funder, the bill explicitly excludes the actual settlement proceeds received by the winning party from their gross income.

The DOGE BROS Act significantly increases the financial penalties for various federal offenses related to the misuse and unauthorized disclosure of sensitive government data. This bill raises maximum fines for misusing personal records, hacking government computers, and improperly sharing information held by the SSA, HHS, the IRS, and the Census Bureau. The overall goal is to bolster safeguards and increase accountability for protecting government electronic data.

The Expedited Removal Expansion Act of 2025 significantly expands the Secretary of Homeland Security's discretionary authority to apply expedited removal procedures to more inadmissible aliens. This bill updates inspection rules and raises the standard of evidence required for certain determinations from "a significant possibility" to "clear and convincing evidence." The legislation centralizes decision-making power with the Secretary and streamlines references within the Immigration and Nationality Act.

The Promoting Access to Diabetic Shoes Act expands who can certify the medical necessity for Medicare coverage of diabetic shoes. This bill allows nurse practitioners and physician assistants to sign the required documentation, in addition to physicians. This change aims to improve access to necessary footwear for individuals with diabetes.

The Timely and Accurate Benefits Act mandates that states implement an "Enhanced Income Identification and Verification Platform" within one year to continue receiving federal funding for covered benefit programs. This platform requires states to use comprehensive, real-time data matching to verify "enhanced gross income" from all sources, including bank transactions (with claimant permission). The goal is to ensure accurate eligibility and benefit levels for federal assistance programs.

The SAFE FOOD Act of 2025 mandates a comprehensive study on consolidating federal food safety agencies into a single entity. The Secretary of Agriculture is responsible for initiating this study within 60 days of enactment. A final report, including recommendations on whether to proceed with consolidation, must be submitted to Congress within one year.

The Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act of 2025 establishes a formal, publicly accessible code of conduct for Supreme Court Justices and creates a judicial investigation panel to handle related ethics complaints. The bill also mandates stricter disclosure requirements for gifts and income received by Justices, and significantly expands the circumstances under which a federal judge must recuse themselves due to financial ties or lobbying influence. Finally, it institutes new disclosure rules for parties and *amici curiae* in cases before the Court, alongside studies to monitor judicial compliance.

The CARGO Act of 2025 prohibits the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from awarding funding or support for any research activity that uses live animals if that research is conducted outside of the United States. This measure is intended to address concerns regarding the lack of oversight and potential mistreatment of animals in foreign research labs funded by U.S. taxpayers. The bill effectively bans NIH grants for overseas animal testing, requiring all such research to occur within U.S. borders.

The Prescription Drug Price Relief Act of 2025 establishes a system for the Secretary of Health and Human Services to review brand-name drugs priced excessively high compared to international benchmarks or other factors. If a price is deemed excessive, the bill immediately cancels the manufacturer's government-granted monopolies, allowing generic and biosimilar competition to begin quickly. The Act also mandates comprehensive annual reporting from manufacturers on pricing, R&D, and marketing costs, which will be made public via a new database.

The Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act standardizes the burden of proof in employment discrimination cases across several major federal laws, including those covering age, race, sex, and disability. This bill makes it easier for plaintiffs to prove discrimination by establishing that a protected characteristic was a "motivating factor" in an adverse employment decision, even if other legal reasons existed. The new standards apply immediately to all pending claims upon enactment.

The Housing Acquisitions Review and Transparency (HART) Act amends antitrust reporting requirements to treat aggregated purchases of residential property within a calendar year as a single transaction. This mandates antitrust premerger notification filings when cumulative acquisitions meet certain thresholds. The Act also narrows existing exemptions, generally requiring reporting for investment or rental property purchases unless they are strictly for personal use. The FTC and DOJ are tasked with updating regulations and creating new reporting forms to implement these changes.

The Presidential Airlift Security Act of 2025 prohibits the Department of Defense from using funds in fiscal years 2025 and 2026 to procure, modify, or maintain foreign-owned aircraft for presidential airlift purposes. This measure restricts the use of the defense budget for acquiring or servicing used foreign planes considered for presidential transport during this period.

The Business Owners Protection Act of 2025 terminates specific, unused regulatory authorities granted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under the Dodd-Frank Act. If the SEC failed to initiate rulemaking for these discretionary powers by January 1, 2025, those authorities automatically expire upon the enactment of this Act. The SEC is required to publicly report to Congress on all terminated authorities within 180 days.