Legislative Activity

The BOP Direct-Hire Authority Act grants the Director of the Bureau of Prisons the authority to directly hire qualified individuals into competitive service jobs, bypassing standard federal hiring procedures. This expedited hiring power is intended to speed up staffing efforts across all BOP facilities. This special authority will automatically expire once 96% of all competitive service positions within the Bureau of Prisons are filled.

The Student Loan Marriage Penalty Elimination Act of 2025 aims to adjust the student loan interest deduction for married couples filing separately. This bill caps the deductible student loan interest at \$2,500 per individual spouse. It ensures that taxpayers cannot claim the same interest amount under multiple deduction provisions.

The No Tax Subsidies for Stadiums Act of 2025 prohibits the issuance of federal tax-exempt bonds for financing or refinancing professional sports stadiums. This legislation immediately ends the federal tax break previously available to investors purchasing bonds used for stadium construction or renovation. Consequently, any bonds issued for these facilities will now be subject to federal taxation.

The FEHB Protection Act of 2025 aims to improve the integrity of the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program by verifying the eligibility of family members enrolled in health plans. It mandates the Director to establish processes for verifying qualifying life events, conduct comprehensive audits of covered family members, and disenroll ineligible individuals. The Act also allocates specific funding for oversight, audits, and the Office of the Inspector General to ensure proper implementation and prevent fraud within the FEHB Program.

The Air America Act of 2025 recognizes the sacrifices of former Air America employees who served the U.S. Government between 1950 and 1976. This Act authorizes a one-time monetary award, up to $40,000 plus potential additional amounts, for qualifying service members or their survivors. The CIA Director is responsible for administering these payments, which are capped at a total of $60 million, and establishing the application procedures. Decisions made by the Director regarding these awards are final and not subject to judicial review.

The "Employee Business Expense Deduction Reinstatement Act of 2025" reinstates and modifies the deduction for unreimbursed employee expenses, allowing individuals to deduct 85% of costs related to food, lodging, travel, or transportation. It also lowers the floor for miscellaneous itemized deductions from 2% to 1% and extends the statute of limitations for related credit or refund claims by one year. These changes are applicable retroactively as if included in the original 2017 tax law.

This bill nullifies the Internal Revenue Service's rule concerning supervisory approval processes for penalties. By disapproving the rule as published in the Federal Register, the bill prevents the implementation of the IRS's updated penalty approval procedures.

The "No Industrial Restrictions in Secret Act of 2025" or "No IRIS Act of 2025" prevents the EPA Administrator from utilizing assessments produced by the EPA's Integrated Risk Information System program. This prohibition extends to developing regulations, enforcement actions, permitting, and informing air toxics assessments.

The "Protecting Taxpayers from Student Loan Bailouts Act" limits the Secretary of Education's authority to propose regulations or executive actions related to student loans under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965. Specifically, the Secretary cannot proceed with any regulation or action if it is deemed economically significant (an economic impact of $100,000,000 or more) and would increase subsidy costs. This limitation is in addition to other cost analysis requirements.