Legislative Activity

The American LNG First Act of 2026 streamlines the domestic transport of liquefied natural gas by creating a targeted exemption to U.S. coastwise trade laws. This legislation allows for the certification of specific vessels to carry LNG while explicitly prohibiting any involvement from Russian or Chinese interests, including ownership, flagging, or crew participation.

The Fiscal Contingency Preparedness Act mandates that the Treasury Department, in coordination with the OMB, include a new analysis of potential financial risks from major "fiscal shocks" in its annual report. This analysis must assess the short-term and long-term financial impacts of events like recessions, natural disasters, or cyber attacks on the federal government. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) will subsequently review the methodology and findings of this new fiscal assessment.

The Stop the Sexualization of Children Act prohibits the use of federal education funds to develop or promote programs, activities, or materials for minors that include sexually oriented material. This restriction specifically targets content exposing children to nudity, stripping, or lewd dancing. The bill carves out exceptions for standard science coursework, classic literature, classic art, and major world religious texts.

The Interstate Milk Freedom Act of 2026 prohibits federal interference in the interstate sale and transportation of unpasteurized milk and milk products. This protection applies when both the state of origin and the destination state permit the distribution of raw milk for human consumption and all state-level packaging and labeling laws are met. The bill preserves individual state authority while ensuring that compliant producers can move their products across state lines without federal restriction.

The Main Street Act is a comprehensive bill designed to revitalize community banking by easing formation requirements for new local banks and tailoring regulations to reduce compliance burdens on smaller financial institutions. It aims to increase transparency in bank supervision and resolution processes while modernizing lending programs and streamlining merger reviews. Ultimately, the legislation seeks to foster greater competition, improve access to capital in underserved areas, and ensure regulatory oversight is proportionate to institutional risk.

The Promoting Innovation in Blockchain Development Act amends federal law to expand the definition of unlicensed money transmitting businesses. This legislation establishes criminal penalties for individuals who knowingly manage or control unlicensed operations involving currency or digital value substitutes.

The Government Surveillance Transparency Act of 2026 mandates greater public accountability for criminal surveillance by requiring courts to maintain online, searchable dockets of surveillance orders and limiting the government's ability to keep these records sealed. The bill also establishes strict notification requirements for individuals targeted by surveillance and introduces new, standardized reporting protocols for law enforcement agencies. Additionally, it provides grant funding to assist state and tribal courts in upgrading their systems to meet these new transparency and electronic filing standards.

The Gun Owner Registration Information Protection Act prohibits federal agencies from providing funding or support for the creation and maintenance of state-level firearm ownership databases. This legislation ensures that federal resources cannot be used to track lawful gun owners, with a specific exception for databases tracking lost or stolen firearms.

The Chloe Cole Act of 2026 establishes a federal private right of action allowing individuals to sue healthcare professionals and institutions for damages related to gender-transition medical interventions performed on them as minors. The bill permits lawsuits regardless of when the intervention occurred and sets a statute of limitations extending 25 years past the individual's 18th birthday. Additionally, it mandates strict liability for such interventions performed after the Act's enactment.

This bill proposes to amend the Internal Revenue Code to revoke the tax-exempt status of any organization that provides or funds abortions. This revocation would apply unless the abortion is necessary to save the life of the mother or results from rape or incest. Organizations that lose this status would also no longer be eligible for tax-deductible charitable contributions.

The Protecting Motherhood Act mandates that federal agencies use specific, sex-based terminology such as "mother," "woman," or "female" instead of the term "birthing person" in all official documents. This legislation defines the required terms to ensure consistency in federal communications regarding pregnancy and parenthood.

The Do No Harm in Medicaid Act seeks to prohibit federal Medicaid matching funds for specified gender transition procedures and related medications administered to individuals under 18 years of age. This prohibition includes funding for surgeries and the administration of puberty blockers or supraphysiologic hormone doses. Exceptions are made for treatments related to verifiable genetic disorders of sex development or to correct for certain medical emergencies or prior prohibited procedures, provided parental consent is obtained.

The AI OVERWATCH Act establishes strict new licensing requirements for exporting advanced integrated circuits to designated countries of concern, including China and Russia. This legislation mandates detailed national security certifications to Congress before any license can be approved for these high-performance technologies. Furthermore, the bill creates an exemption process for trusted U.S. companies while terminating existing licenses for these sensitive exports.

The Bank-Fintech Partnership Enhancement Act mandates federal regulators to study the impact of partnerships between banks and fintech companies on competition, innovation, and consumer protection. It also requires a separate study on similar partnerships involving credit unions. The goal of these studies is to recommend necessary changes to laws and regulations to better promote effective collaboration between traditional financial institutions and technology firms.

The American Financial Institution Regulatory Sovereignty and Transparency Act of 2025 (American FIRST Act) mandates that key federal banking agencies significantly increase transparency regarding their international regulatory activities. This bill requires the Federal Reserve, the Comptroller of the Currency, and the FDIC to submit detailed annual reports to Congress about their engagement with global financial forums. These reports must cover the purpose, funding, positions taken, and implementation plans related to standards set by these international bodies.

The Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act prohibits payment card networks and financial processors from creating or requiring special merchant category codes specifically for firearm retailers. This legislation aims to prevent the singling out of businesses that sell firearms, ammunition, or related components through transaction coding. The Attorney General is tasked with enforcement and reporting annually to Congress on the law's implementation.

The Whistleblower Protection Act of 2025 expands existing federal whistleblower safeguards to cover nearly all contracts, grants, and agreements funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This ensures that individuals reporting wrongdoing on HUD-funded projects receive standard federal whistleblower protections. These protections apply retroactively to existing agreements.

The Respect State Housing Laws Act aims to clarify federal housing regulations by amending the CARES Act. Specifically, this legislation removes Section 4024(c) from the CARES Act.

The Merger Process Review Act mandates that the Inspector General of each federal banking agency regularly review their procedures for handling insured depository institution merger applications. These reviews will evaluate processing times, identify sources of delay, and assess the impact of mergers on competition and financial stability. The findings and agency responses will be reported to Congress and made public to promote efficiency in the merger review process.

The Regulation A+ Improvement Act of 2025 significantly increases the maximum offering amounts available under Regulation A for both Tier 1 and Tier 2 offerings. This legislation raises the Tier 1 limit from \$5 million to \$50 million and the Tier 2 limit from \$50 million to \$150 million. Furthermore, the bill mandates that the SEC adjust these dollar thresholds for inflation every five years.