S 990, the Freedom to Haul Act of 2025, prohibits the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from implementing or enforcing Phase 3 greenhouse gas emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles (finalized in April 2024). It amends the Clean Air Act to require that future emissions rules for vehicles cannot mandate specific technologies or limit the availability of new trucks based on engine type. This directly affects EPA regulatory authority and vehicle manufacturers, ensuring a broader range of new truck options remains available. The bill focuses on preventing regulatory restrictions on vehicle choice, not on emissions outcomes.
This bill repeals the EPA's 2024 emissions standards for light- and medium-duty vehicles and amends the Clean Air Act to prevent future regulations from mandating specific technologies or limiting new vehicle availability based on engine type. It directly affects the EPA's regulatory authority and vehicle manufacturers by blocking technology mandates and restrictions on engine types in new vehicles. Key provisions require the EPA to revise regulations within 24 months to align with these changes, ensuring no federal rules limit vehicle choices based on engine technology. The bill's title is misleading, as it does not address automobile retail sales or consumer choice at dealerships.
This bill amends the Clean Air Act to prevent states from imposing standards that limit the sale or use of new internal combustion engine vehicles. It adds a new requirement that state standards must not directly or indirectly restrict such vehicles, and it prohibits the EPA from considering pre-2025 state standards as valid under existing waivers. The bill also requires the EPA to revoke certain existing waivers granted between January 2022 and the bill's enactment date if those waivers don't comply with the new standard. This directly affects states with their own vehicle emission rules (like California's ZEV program), limiting their ability to regulate internal combustion engine vehicles through EPA-approved standards.
This bill mandates that high schools in the U.S. teach students about communism's historical impact, requiring them to learn that communism caused over 100 million deaths globally and that 1.5 billion people still live under it. The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (a specific entity) must develop a required high school curriculum and oral history resources called "Portraits in Patriotism," featuring personal stories from individuals affected by communism. The curriculum must be used in social studies, government, history, and economics classes to compare communism with U.S. democratic principles. It directly affects high school students and educators by requiring specific content in their civic education.
The Baltic Security Initiative Act (S 1009) establishes a new U.S. Department of Defense program to strengthen military cooperation with Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania (the "Baltic countries"). It authorizes $350 million annually for fiscal years 2026-2028 to support specific security goals, including deterring Russian aggression, enhancing NATO's eastern flank defense, and improving joint capabilities like missile defense, cyber resilience, and ammunition stockpiling. The bill requires the Secretary of Defense to submit a strategy report within one year of enactment, detailing how the initiative will achieve these objectives through existing authorities. This program directly affects U.S. defense planning and security assistance for the Baltic nations, focusing on concrete military cooperation rather than new laws or regulations.
The SOIL Act of 2025 requires the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to review certain foreign purchases of agricultural land and real estate near military bases. It specifically targets transactions involving foreign entities from countries designated as nonmarket economies (like China or Russia under trade law) or identified as national security risks in the annual intelligence threat report. The bill prohibits federal subsidies for agricultural land held by such foreign entities and updates disclosure rules to include long-term leases of agricultural land. It also mandates annual public reports detailing foreign ownership of U.S. farmland by country, including holdings near military installations within 50 miles.
HRES 216 is a resolution condemning the leadership of the House Republican Conference for allowing a social media post that falsely questioned the immigration status and patriotism of Congressman Adriano Espaillat (Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus). The resolution specifically names House Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Majority Whip Tom Emmer, and other top Republican leaders as responsible for the post. It characterizes the post as xenophobic and inappropriate, stating such rhetoric violates the standards of conduct expected of members of Congress.
HRES 218 is a resolution recognizing and honoring teachers who have earned or maintained National Board Certification as of March 2025. It specifically honors approximately 141,464 certified teachers nationwide, acknowledges their contributions to student learning (including research showing improved outcomes for students), and encourages school districts and states to support more teachers in pursuing this certification. The resolution has no legal effect or funding provisions - it is purely a symbolic gesture of appreciation for educators meeting rigorous teaching standards.
Protecting Pharmacies in Medicaid Act This bill provides funds beginning in FY2026 for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to survey retail and non-retail pharmacies (e.g., mail-order pharmacies) to determine average prices of covered outpatient drugs under Medicaid. Pharmacies that fail to participate in the surveys are subject to civil penalties. The bill additionally provides funds for FY2026 for the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services to study the results of the survey and report accordingly to Congress. The bill also requires pass-through pricing models, and prohibits spread-pricing, for payment arrangements with pharmacy benefit managers under Medicaid.
This bill allows farmers who sell qualified farmland to a "qualified farmer" to exclude capital gains from their taxable income if they reinvest the proceeds into an individual retirement plan (IRA) within 60 days. To qualify, the land must have been used for farming by the seller for 10 years, and the buyer must agree in writing to maintain the land as farmland for at least 10 years. If the buyer sells the land or stops using it for farming within that decade, they must repay the excluded gains plus interest as an additional tax. The bill also temporarily increases IRA contribution limits for these reinvestments, applying to sales after the law's enactment.
The Give Kids a Chance Act of 2025 modifies FDA regulations to improve pediatric cancer drug development and extends incentives for rare pediatric disease treatments. It requires drug developers seeking approval for molecularly targeted cancer drugs to include pediatric-focused studies (e.g., dosing, safety) for specific cancer types, with new FDA guidance due within 12 months. The bill also extends the rare pediatric disease priority review voucher program through 2029 and mandates a GAO study to evaluate how effectively these vouchers spur development of treatments for rare pediatric diseases, reporting findings by 2034. This directly affects pharmaceutical companies developing cancer drugs and the FDA’s approval process, aiming to accelerate treatments for children with cancer and rare diseases.
S 940, the Transparency in Banking Act, requires major U.S. banking regulators - including the Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and FDIC - to publicly report on their participation in international banking rule discussions. The bill mandates that these agencies submit annual reports to Congress by January 31 each year, detailing planned attendance, issues to address, and U.S. positions on proposed global banking standards. It also requires them to notify Congress within 30 days of significant changes to these plans, including meeting results, proposed changes, and voting positions. The law aims to increase transparency around how U.S. regulators engage with the Basel Committee on Bank Supervision, directly affecting federal banking oversight bodies.
