Congress on CrossGov.com

Retire through Ownership Act Signed Into Law as Public Law 119-124

Tue, 03 Nov 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Retire through Ownership Act (S. 2403) became law on October 15, 2026, as Public Law 119-124. Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) introduced it on July 23, 2025, with 1 cosponsor.

What the Law Does

This bill allows the fiduciary of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) to rely on a valuation provided by an independent valuation expert or business appraiser in determining the fair market value of the plan’s assets if the assets are not securities for which there is a generally recognized market and the expert or appraiser follows specified methodologies.

Clergy Act Signed Into Law as Public Law 119-125

Sat, 31 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Clergy Act (H.R. 227) became law on October 20, 2026, as Public Law 119-125. Rep. Vince Fong (R-California) introduced it on January 7, 2025, with 21 cosponsors.

What the Law Does

This act establishes a two-year window for members of the clergy who have opted out of Social Security and Medicare taxes (and are thus ineligible for benefits under those programs) to opt back in.

Under current law, certain ministers, members of religious orders, and Christian Science practitioners who object to participation in public insurance programs on religious or conscientious grounds may apply to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for an exemption from Social Security and Medicare taxes on ministerial earnings. Individuals who are approved for the exemption do not receive Social Security or Medicare benefits in retirement unless they have qualifying credits from other employment. The exemption is irrevocable.

Critical Infrastructure Manufacturing Feasibility Act Signed Into Law as Public Law 119-127

Sat, 31 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Critical Infrastructure Manufacturing Feasibility Act (H.R. 1721) became law on October 20, 2026, as Public Law 119-127. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) introduced it on February 27, 2025, with 2 cosponsors.

What the Law Does

This bill requires the Department of Commerce to study and report on products that are in high demand across the critical infrastructure sectors. Critical infrastructure sectors are those whose assets, systems, and networks are vital to national security, the economy, public health or safety, or any combination of those matters.

Enhancing Detection of Human Trafficking Act Signed Into Law as Public Law 119-131

Fri, 30 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Enhancing Detection of Human Trafficking Act (H.R. 4307) became law on October 20, 2026, as Public Law 119-131. Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Michigan) introduced it on July 10, 2025, with 3 cosponsors.

What the Law Does

This act requires the Department of Labor to provide training and education to its employees on how to effectively assist law enforcement in detecting human trafficking.

The act directs Labor to determine which employees should receive the training and education based on their official duties. Further, it requires the training and education to include information that is appropriate for the employees’ location or environment; that reflects current trends and best practices for the location or environment; and that is relevant to detecting human trafficking, identifying suspected victims, and referring potential cases to the Department of Justice and other appropriate authorities.

Romance Scam Prevention Act Signed Into Law as Public Law 119-129

Fri, 30 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Romance Scam Prevention Act (H.R. 2481) became law on October 20, 2026, as Public Law 119-129. Rep. David Valadao (R-California) introduced it on March 31, 2025, with 9 cosponsors.

What the Law Does

This act requires online dating service providers (i.e., mobile applications or websites) to provide users with a fraud ban notification if the user has established an account with the service and received a message through the service from a banned user of the service.

License to Drill Act Signed Into Law as Public Law 119-134

Thu, 29 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The License to Drill Act (H.R. 7831) became law on October 20, 2026, as Public Law 119-134. Rep. Mike Kennedy (R-Utah) introduced it on March 5, 2026, with 3 cosponsors.

What the Law Does

This act extends through FY2037 the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) authority to collect oil and gas permit processing fees. For each new permit application, BLM collects a fee that is transferred to the BLM Permit Processing Improvement Fund. (Under current law, the fees are authorized through FY2026.)

Mystic Alerts Act Signed Into Law as Public Law 119-136

Thu, 29 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Mystic Alerts Act (H.R. 7022) became law on October 22, 2026, as Public Law 119-136. Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas) introduced it on January 12, 2026, with 4 cosponsors.

What the Law Does

This bill provides for wireless emergency alerts to be transmitted to mobile devices via satellite. (Currently, wireless emergency alerts are sent via terrestrial mobile networks to individual devices in geographically targeted areas. Commercial mobile service providers are not required to participate; only devices connected to a participating service provider’s network receive alerts.)

Pentagon Inspector General Declines Bipartisan Senate Request to Investigate Starlink and Starshield Disruptions in Ukraine

Thu, 29 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Defense Department’s inspector general has turned down a request from nine senators, four Republicans and five Democrats, to investigate this month’s disruptions to Starlink and Starshield satellite service in Ukraine. In a reply dated October 27, the watchdog said the questions were better answered by the department itself, and pointed the senators to the Air Force. A spokeswoman for the office said it could reconsider if new information comes to light.

Treasury Proposes Barring Large Investors From Buying Single-Family Homes Starting January 7, 2027

Wed, 28 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Treasury Department proposed rules on October 22, 2026, to bar large institutional investors from buying single-family homes from January 7, 2027. The proposal is Treasury’s first attempt to say how the ban will work in practice, and most of it is about the exceptions.

The ban itself is already law. Congress wrote it into Section 1001 of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, H.R. 6644, a broad housing bill that cleared the Senate 85 to 5 on June 22. President Trump said he wouldn’t sign it, arguing that Congress should pass the SAVE America Act first, and he didn’t. The bill became law without his signature on July 11. The ban starts 180 days later. Treasury says the rule also codifies key parts of Executive Order 14376, “Stopping Wall Street from Competing with Main Street Homebuyers,” which the President signed on January 20.

Congress Needs a Verifiable Account of What the Iran Strikes Achieved

Sat, 24 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A military campaign can produce extensive destruction without producing a settled answer about what an adversary can still do. That distinction matters whenever an administration asks Congress and the public to accept a declaration of success. Targets struck, facilities damaged, weapons remaining and production capacity restored are different measurements. Treating them as interchangeable makes oversight weaker precisely when the consequences are greatest.

Government Shutdowns Turn Aviation Workers Into Washington's Financial Shock Absorbers

Sat, 24 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Washington has developed a peculiar approach to essential public services: declare the work too important to stop, then interrupt the pay of the people doing it. In aviation, that contradiction reaches well beyond federal offices. It follows passengers through security checkpoints, into departure lounges and onto aircraft waiting for clearance. A government shutdown may begin as a dispute over appropriations, but its consequences travel.

Treasury COINS Act Rule Would Ban US Investment in Chinese and Russian Superintelligence, Supercomputing and Hypersonics

Fri, 23 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Treasury Department on October 22 proposed a rule that would stop Americans putting money into companies in China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and Cuba that build superintelligence systems, supercomputers, quantum machines, hypersonic weapons or certain biotechnology. It is the first rule written under the Comprehensive Outbound Investment National Security Act, the COINS Act, which Congress folded into the FY2026 defense bill last December. Comments close on December 7.

The proposal turns a program that started as a 2023 executive order aimed at China alone into a statute-backed regime covering five countries and six technology families. It also hardens the AI piece. Under the current rules, a US investor backing a Chinese AI developer often only had to tell Treasury about the deal. Under the new text, investing in any entity developing a “super intelligence system” is simply banned. That’s Treasury following the administration’s September decision to rename artificial intelligence, the subject of an earlier CrossGov.com column.

DOE Uses the Defense Production Act to Fund the Constitution Pipeline and Two Grid Projects, Up to $242 Million in Two Weeks

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Department of Energy has committed up to $242 million of Defense Production Act money to three energy projects since October 5: a gas pipeline into New York, a second power line in Alaska and grid upgrades in Virginia. A law passed in 1950 for the Korean War is now paying for permits and power lines.

The biggest award came first. On October 5 DOE offered the Alaska Energy Authority up to $150 million for the Beluga-Healy line, about 223 miles of new transmission between Southcentral and Interior Alaska. Today a single intertie, built in the 1980s, carries power between Anchorage and Fairbanks, and most of the state’s military bases draw on it. The project is priced at $418 million, a preliminary estimate, with the other $268 million to come from non-federal sources. DOE’s release cites the state’s big military installations without naming one.

GAO Sets AI and Fiscal Oversight Priorities Through 2032 With No Confirmed Comptroller General and a House Bill Cutting Its Budget 25%

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Government Accountability Office released its strategic plan for 2027 to 2032 last week, setting out how Congress’s main watchdog means to spend the next six years. It puts artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and the federal fiscal outlook near the top. It was signed by an acting head, at an agency the House wants to cut by a quarter.

GAO writes a new plan every few years. It’s the document that tells committees what kind of work to expect and tells GAO’s own staff where hiring and training will go. This one comes at an awkward moment for the agency.

Pentagon Acts as Investor and Bulk Buyer With 25,000 APKWS Kits a Year and Supplier Stakes, but Congress Holds the Money

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Pentagon signed a framework with BAE Systems on October 19 for up to 25,000 APKWS guidance kits a year for up to seven years, but Congress still has to approve and fund it. The same week, the department’s technology chief talked up loans and equity stakes in suppliers. The Pentagon wants to be a long-term customer and a shareholder at once. Both roles run through Capitol Hill.

The APKWS kit turns an unguided 2.75-inch rocket into a laser-guided one. All four services use it, and it has become a cheap way to shoot down drones. BAE builds the kits in Hudson, New Hampshire, and Austin, Texas, and delivered its 100,000th in February. The framework also sets out a path to 35,000 kits a year if allies place orders through Foreign Military Sales.

Pentagon Invites Governors to Bid for the First New US Military Base Since 1985, With Congress Still to Approve the Money

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Pentagon has asked every governor to compete to host a new joint base for 15,000 to 25,000 troops, the first since 1985. States must offer land and fast permits. Congress must still authorize and fund it, and three weeks on no plan for picking a site has been published.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the “Next Great American Base” in a speech at Marine Corps Base Quantico on September 30 and in a memo the same day. The memo describes a hardened joint installation within the homeland, shared by more than one service, on hundreds of thousands of acres. Hegseth called it a self-sustaining power projection platform. It would run off the commercial grid on its own power, with modern air defenses, new housing, health care and child care, and classical architecture.

Russian Sanctions Relief Exposes a Collision Between Energy Policy and Congressional Intent

Mon, 19 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

President Donald Trump’s decision to waive key new restrictions on Russia has turned a dispute over diesel supplies into a broader confrontation over how American foreign policy is made. Congress approved legislation intended to increase pressure on Moscow, and Trump signed it last month. He has now waived important sanctions and tariff provisions before their implementation, while separately pursuing additional Russian diesel supplies. The backlash crosses party lines because the reversal raises an uncomfortable question: how much practical force does a congressional sanctions policy retain when the executive immediately chooses to suspend its central measures?

The Iran War Cost Dispute Is Becoming a Test of Congressional Oversight

Mon, 19 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The fight over the cost of the Iran war has reached a basic question of government accountability: should Americans be allowed to see the financial damage from a military campaign they are paying for? Five Democratic senators have written to CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper demanding public disclosure of estimated damage to American military bases and facilities. Their intervention follows a classified briefing in which Cooper supplied damage estimates to lawmakers. The information exists, in other words. The dispute is over why the public cannot see an unclassified accounting of it.

Census Bureau Proposes Excluding Noncitizens From the 2030 Apportionment Count and Dropping Race and Ethnicity Questions

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Census Bureau has proposed a rule for the 2030 census that would exclude people who are neither citizens nor green-card holders from the population counts used to divide the 435 House seats among the states. It would also drop the questions on race and Hispanic origin. The proposal was published in the Federal Register as document 2026-18481. The comment period has been extended to November 2, the day before the midterms.

McConnell Joins Senators Demanding Trump Rescind the Russian Diesel License as the Graham Act Deadline Nears

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

On October 13 a bipartisan group of senators wrote to the President demanding that he withdraw from his October 9 deal with Vladimir Putin, rescind Treasury’s General License 135 allowing Russian diesel imports, and use the new Russia sanctions law against Moscow and its backers, “especially China.” Signers include Republicans Mitch McConnell, Thom Tillis, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, and Democrats Richard Blumenthal, Jeanne Shaheen, Dick Durbin, Sheldon Whitehouse, Jack Reed and Chris Coons.

Pentagon Clears a Second Destroyer for Bath Iron Works, Reversing Its Own FY2027 Budget Three Weeks Before Collins's Election

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Pentagon has approved a second Arleigh Burke-class destroyer for General Dynamics’ Bath Iron Works in Maine, Roll Call reported on October 13. The fiscal 2027 budget request had funded only one destroyer, within a $65.8 billion shipbuilding request. Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg said the yard had shown that “sustained performance is essential.”

The decision still needs money from Congress. The House defense appropriations subcommittee’s bill includes one destroyer. The Senate hasn’t released its bill.

FCC v. Brown: Supreme Court Weighs Whether Parties Get Candidates' Cheapest TV Ad Rates in the Final Weeks Before the Midterms

Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

An emergency application now at the Supreme Court will decide how cheaply the political parties can buy television time in the last three weeks before the November 3 election.

The dispute is over a March 30, 2026, public notice from the Federal Communications Commission’s Media Bureau. It extended the “lowest unit charge,” the discount broadcasters must give candidates in the 45 days before a primary and the 60 days before a general election, to party committees and joint fundraising committees that run ads featuring a candidate. Democratic candidates including Senator Jon Ossoff, Sherrod Brown, Roy Cooper and Representative Kristen McDonald Rivet challenged it.

Graham Act Tariff Deadline Is Days Away With No Country List, Rates or Waiver Published

Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, signed on September 18, says the President “shall” raise duties on “all goods” from covered countries “to a rate of up to 100 percent ad valorem” within 30 days of enactment. That deadline falls around October 18 to 19. As of October 12, the White House, USTR and Treasury had published no list of countries, no rates and no waiver.

The law also requires a written justification to six congressional committees at least ten days before any duty takes effect, which pointed to about October 8. Whether one was sent privately hasn’t been disclosed.

Hegseth's Plan to Livestream Nidal Hasan's Firing Squad Execution Splits Republicans as Trump Says He'll Decide

Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

On October 8 Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the execution of Nidal Hasan, the Army psychiatrist who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, would be carried out by firing squad on December 3 and streamed publicly. It would be the first US military execution since 1961. The last known military firing squad execution was in 1945.

By October 10 the President was hedging. “There are two thoughts: don’t show it and show it,” he said. “I know what the military would like to do, but we’ll make a decision.” A day earlier he had said: “Did I approve? Absolutely,” and “I really don’t care how he goes as long as he goes.” Axios reported that he privately told aides the livestream “might not happen.”

Pentagon Quietly Revises the Iran War Toll to 21 Dead and 865 Wounded as Lawmakers Demand an Explanation

Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

On Friday October 9 the Pentagon updated its Defense Casualty Analysis System, the official database of military casualties. The war with Iran now counts 21 US service members killed and 865 wounded, Stars and Stripes reported.

The figures are split in two. Operation Epic Fury, from February 28, accounts for 15 deaths and 417 wounded. A separate category for “overseas operations” since July 7 accounts for 6 deaths and 448 wounded. In July the Pentagon told AP that Epic Fury had ended and that renewed fighting would be recorded under the new heading.

Seven Senators Say Trump's Russian Diesel License Breaks the 2022 Import Ban, and Bessent Says They're Wrong

Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

On October 11 seven senators from both parties told the administration to reverse its decision to let Russian diesel into the US. Republicans Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Thom Tillis and John Curtis signed, with Democrats Jeanne Shaheen, Richard Blumenthal and Ron Wyden. “Congress explicitly banned Russian energy imports in 2022,” their statement said. “The Administration must immediately reverse course.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent answered on Fox the same day: “anyone in Congress who says whether it’s an old bill or the current Lindsey Graham bill prohibits us from doing it is wrong.”

2026 Midterms: Democrats Lead the Generic Ballot by About 8 Points as Cook Moves 18 House Races, and What Control Means for the Budget

Sun, 11 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Three weeks before the November 3 midterms, Republicans hold the House with 218 seats to the Democrats’ 214, plus one independent and two vacancies. They hold the Senate 53 to 47. Polling averages show Democrats ahead on the generic congressional ballot by about 8 points: RealClearPolitics had it at 50.4% to 42.2% on October 6, and Nate Silver’s average at 8.9 points on October 9. A year ago the gap was under 3.

27 Inspector General Posts Vacant 20 Months After the Watchdog Firings, With Nominees for Only Six

Sun, 11 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Oversight.gov, the shared website of the federal inspectors general, lists 27 vacant IG posts as of October 2026. About 20 of them are posts the President fills with Senate confirmation. Only six have a nominee pending.

Several have been empty since the night of January 24, 2025, when at least 17 inspectors general were fired by email. They include Interior, State, Housing and Urban Development, the Environmental Protection Agency, Transportation, Energy, Education and the Office of Personnel Management. Treasury’s IG post has been vacant since 2019.

Congress Faces a December 11 Cliff: Government Funding, the NDAA, the Farm Bill and the Cyber Sharing Law All Due After the Midterms

Sun, 11 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

When Congress comes back after the November 3 midterms, it will have about five weeks before several deadlines land on the same day. The stopgap funding law, H.R. 6500, signed on September 2, keeps the government open until December 11. The same law carries the National Flood Insurance Program, the 2015 cyber threat-sharing law, surface transportation authority and the EPA’s chemical fee program to that date.

The farm bill has already lapsed. The defense policy bill is stuck in the Senate. And a long list of health and tax items runs out on December 31.

FDA's Red No. 3 Ban Takes Effect January 15, 2027, but the Wider Food Dye Phase-Out Is Still Voluntary

Sun, 11 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

On August 5 the FDA rejected the last legal objection to its ban on Red No. 3, a petroleum-based dye used in candy and baked goods. That confirmed the deadline: from January 15, 2027, the dye can’t be used in food sold in the US. Ingested drugs have until January 2028.

The FDA revoked Red No. 3 in January 2025 under the Delaney Clause, which bars additives shown to cause cancer in animals. It’s the only petroleum dye removal so far backed by a binding federal rule.

The Pentagon's $1.5 Trillion Request Meets a Stalled NDAA and a Stopgap That Funds Defense at $838 Billion

Sun, 11 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The fiscal 2027 budget asked Congress for $1.5 trillion for national defense, a 42% jump. The Pentagon is starting the year on $838.5 billion, under a continuing resolution that runs to December 11 and bars new programs. The annual defense authorization bill, which Congress has passed every year for more than six decades, is stuck in the Senate.

The gap between what was asked and what exists is the widest in years.

US Shipbuilding Push Rides on the NDAA: SHIPS Act Provisions, a $20 Billion Trust Fund and Korea's $150 Billion Pledge

Sun, 11 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The US builds less than 1% of the world’s new commercial ships, the White House says in its Maritime Action Plan, published in February 2026. Most of what the plan proposes to change that needs Congress, and the bill now carrying it is the stalled fiscal 2027 defense authorization act.

On October 9 the AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department asked senators to sign a letter, led by Senators Todd Young and Mark Kelly and Representatives Trent Kelly and John Garamendi, urging congressional leaders to keep the SHIPS for America Act’s provisions in the final NDAA. The deadline to sign is October 16.

After Trump v. Slaughter: The Election Commission Is Empty, the SEC and FTC Are All-Republican, and Lisa Cook Faces a For-Cause Hearing