The Energy Utility Lobbying Ban Act would restrict former state energy regulators from lobbying on behalf of electric utilities before their former agencies for a limited time period. Specifically, it would ban former state regulatory officials from advocating for utilities in matters they personally handled while employed, and would extend this ban to two years after they leave office for any utility matter that was pending during their final year of service. To enforce these restrictions, states would need to investigate violations, impose penalties, and allow affected parties to recover damages. The bill ties compliance to federal funding by requiring the Department of Energy to withhold 10 percent of State Energy Program financial assistance from states that do not adopt these restrictions, though states would have a 90-day cure period and could regain withheld funds if they later comply. The Department of Energy would have nine months to issue regulations, must conduct annual compliance reviews, and is required to maintain a public database tracking each state's compliance status.

This bill, the No Utility Junk Fees Act, aims to eliminate excessive charges that electric utilities impose on residential customers for paying their bills. The legislation requires states to ban "spurious charges" such as payment convenience fees, which the bill defines as fees that exceed 150 percent of the utility's actual processing costs or $3, whichever is greater, or fees charged on payment methods that cost the utility nothing to process. States must also ensure utilities offer at least one free payment option without internet access and prohibit fees on automatic recurring payments. To enforce compliance, the federal government will withhold 10 percent of state energy program funding beginning the first full fiscal year after enactment, with states given 18 months to submit documentation of compliance and a 90-day cure period if they fall short. The Department of Energy must establish regulations within 9 months and maintain a public database tracking which states comply with the new rules.

This bill directs the Secretary of Commerce to study the feasibility and impact of building data centers at or near military bases, rail hubs, airports, air cargo facilities, air traffic control centers, and industrial zones across the United States. The study will examine construction costs, effects on energy grids and water systems, which locations have adequate infrastructure to support data centers, and what federal incentives could encourage such development. The Secretary of Commerce must complete the study and submit findings to relevant House and Senate committees within 180 days of the bill becoming law. The legislation affects data center companies, military installations, transportation infrastructure operators, and federal energy and environmental regulators. No specific funding amount is mentioned in the bill text.

This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to publish more detailed and frequent information about staffing and job vacancies within the Veterans Health Administration. Specifically, it changes reporting requirements so that data on VA healthcare positions must be broken down not only by individual medical facility but also by occupation type, and this information must be released monthly instead of quarterly. The bill also clarifies that other types of staffing information can continue to be reported on the less frequent quarterly schedule. The legislation affects the VA and ultimately benefits veterans by increasing transparency about whether the VA is adequately staffed to provide healthcare services. There is no specific funding authorization mentioned in the bill, as it primarily adds reporting requirements to an existing 2018 law.

The Grocery Affordability Act would create a new tax credit to encourage grocery stores to open or expand in food deserts, which are areas where residents lack convenient access to fresh food and have low incomes. Grocery store owners or operators could claim a tax credit equal to 30 percent of the costs to build a new store or renovate an existing one in a qualifying food desert, up to a maximum credit of $500,000 per year. The bill defines a food desert as a census tract where at least 500 people or one-third of residents live more than one mile away from a grocery store (in urban areas) or more than ten miles away (in rural areas), and where the area has either a poverty rate of at least 20 percent or median family income below 80 percent of the statewide or metropolitan area median. The tax credit would take effect for tax years beginning after December 31, 2026, and the Secretary of the Treasury, working with the Department of Agriculture, would determine which areas qualify as food deserts using existing federal databases.

This bill establishes a 45-calendar-day deadline for loan servicers to process applications from veterans seeking to assume VA-guaranteed home loans, and requires the VA to update guidance making clear this is a mandatory requirement rather than a guideline. The legislation affects veterans trying to take over existing VA loans from current owners, as well as loan servicers who handle these transactions. Within 30 days of the law's enactment, the VA must communicate to servicers that they cannot discourage veterans from assuming loans by suggesting the process will take longer than 45 days. The bill also directs the VA Inspector General to conduct a comprehensive assessment within 90 days and submit a detailed report to Congress within 18 months examining whether servicers are meeting the deadline, comparing denial rates between loan assumptions and new loans, investigating potential discrimination, and identifying operational barriers to timely processing. The Inspector General must also make anonymized data from this assessment publicly available.

The Honesty and Trust in Service Act prohibits Department of Defense personnel, including military members and civilian employees, from participating in prediction markets when they have access to nonpublic information that could give them an unfair advantage in those markets. The bill specifically targets situations where DOD employees possess or could reasonably obtain material information through their official duties that wouldn't be available to the general public. The Secretary of Defense must issue regulations within 180 days of the law's enactment that define the rules and establish a range of penalties for violations. This legislation aims to prevent insider trading in prediction markets and protect the integrity of these platforms by ensuring DOD personnel cannot exploit their access to classified or sensitive government information.

The Blue Skies for Taiwan Act of 2026 aims to strengthen Taiwan's defense capabilities by promoting the development and use of secure, China-independent unmanned aerial systems, or drones. The bill directs the State Department and Defense Department to establish a working group within 180 days to assess Taiwan's drone production capacity, identify barriers to including Taiwanese drone components in U.S. programs, and recommend ways to integrate Taiwanese suppliers into secure drone initiatives. The legislation also calls for a fast-track certification process to help Taiwanese drone manufacturers more quickly meet U.S. cybersecurity standards and export requirements, and it establishes a cooperative framework with regional allies to promote secure drone supply chains that don't rely on Chinese-made components. The bill authorizes unspecified funding for these activities and requires annual reports to Congress for three years on the working group's progress, though no specific dollar amounts are specified in the legislation.

The Utility Hikes Transparency Act requires the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to create and maintain a publicly accessible online database called the National Utility Rate Change Tracker within one year of the bill's enactment. This database would contain detailed information about approved and effective utility rate changes for gas and electric utilities, including the dollar and percentage impact on average residential bills, the number of customers affected, reasons for the increases, and links to relevant regulatory documents. The tracker would be searchable by ZIP code, address, state, and city, with quarterly updates, and would include a plain-language methodology document explaining how the information is collected and standardized. This bill affects all households and businesses that use electricity or natural gas from regulated utilities across the country by making rate change information more transparent and easily accessible. The legislation does not specify additional funding but directs FERC to use existing publicly available information and data-sharing agreements with state regulators to populate the database.

The Home Energy Affordability Act would amend federal utility regulation law to require states to consider limiting how often electric utilities can request rate increases. Specifically, the bill would restrict electric utilities to filing for retail rate increases no more than once every 365 days. This change would apply to state-regulated electric utilities across the country. The legislation aims to provide consumers with more predictability and stability in their electricity bills by preventing utilities from seeking multiple rate increases within a single year. The bill does not specify funding requirements or implementation timelines beyond the annual filing restriction.

This bill prohibits Members of Congress and their household members from trading in prediction market contracts, which are agreements that pay off based on whether specific events occur. The ban applies to all members of both the House and Senate, and also covers situations where a congressional member benefits financially from trades made by family members living in the same household. Members must certify annually to their respective chamber that they have complied with the prohibition, with certifications made public on official websites. Members who violate the ban face fines of at least ten thousand dollars or triple any profits gained from illegal trades, whichever is greater, with the money going to the U.S. Treasury. The congressional ethics committees have ninety days after the bill's enactment to establish procedures and guidance for compliance, and Members must fully comply within one hundred eighty days.

The Diesel Prices Relief Act of 2026 temporarily eliminates the federal tax on diesel fuel from the date of enactment through December 31, 2026. The bill removes both the standard diesel fuel tax rate and the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund financing rate on diesel fuel during this period. To prevent disruption to transportation infrastructure funding, the bill requires the Treasury Department to transfer funds from the general Treasury to the Highway Trust Fund and the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund to replace the lost tax revenue. The legislation also declares it congressional policy that fuel producers and dealers pass the tax savings directly to consumers at the pump, giving the Treasury Secretary authority to enforce this requirement. The bill affects all diesel fuel consumers and the fuel industry, with the primary benefit intended for trucking, transportation, and agriculture sectors that rely heavily on diesel fuel.

The MISSION Rx Act would cap out-of-pocket costs for military families and veterans on prescription drugs that are part of Medicare's drug price negotiation program. Specifically, TRICARE beneficiaries and veterans would pay no more for these selected drugs than Medicare Part D patients pay under the same negotiated prices. The bill also requires federal agencies, including the Department of Veterans Affairs, to limit what they pay for these negotiated drugs to the maximum fair prices established through Medicare's negotiation program when entering into drug purchase agreements with manufacturers. These changes would take effect immediately for any drug agreements in place or created after the bill's enactment, and the price caps would remain in effect for the duration of those agreements as long as the Medicare drug price negotiation program continues.

This bill would eliminate tax deductions for business expenses related to private plane ownership, purchase, maintenance, and operation. The legislation carves out exceptions for aircraft primarily used to transport cargo, planes modified and used for agriculture, firefighting, or emergency medical services, and aircraft operated by businesses that provide legitimate aviation services such as flight instruction, skydiving, scheduled commercial flights, or sightseeing tours. The change would apply to expenses incurred after December 31, 2025, effectively preventing wealthy individuals and corporations from using private jet expenses as a tax write-off while allowing legitimate aviation businesses to continue deducting their costs. The bill was introduced in April 2026 by Representatives Vindman, McDonald Rivet, and Landsman and referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means for consideration.

The Virtual Readiness Act of 2026 requires the Secretary of Defense to brief Congress within 180 days on whether the military can use virtual and computer-based training to reduce reliance on expensive in-air flight training exercises. The briefing will focus on the feasibility of this approach and how it might help optimize training resources across the Armed Forces. This legislation affects all military branches that conduct pilot and aircrew training, as well as the congressional defense committees responsible for military oversight. The bill does not authorize any new funding or establish a specific program, but rather calls for an assessment of training methods and their potential cost-effectiveness. Once the briefing is delivered, Congress will be able to use this information to decide whether to pursue legislation or policy changes related to virtual training technologies.

The Neighborhood Skies Act of 2026 requires the Secretary of Defense to submit annual reports to Congress detailing the number of Department of Defense proficiency flights conducted in the National Capitol Region. The bill affects military operations and flight training activities in and around Washington, D.C., and nearby areas designated as the National Capitol Region. The Secretary must submit the first report within one year of the law's enactment, with follow-up reports due annually for the two subsequent years. No specific funding is authorized by the legislation. The bill essentially creates a transparency mechanism for Congress to monitor and track military flight training activities occurring near the nation's capital.

The Candis King Hope for Sickle Cell Families Act directs the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a nationwide data collection program focused on sickle cell disease. Through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the program will award grants to states to gather information about how many Americans have sickle cell disease, which populations are most affected, and how patients are using healthcare services. The bill also requires the HHS Secretary to reinstate employees from the CDC's Division of Blood Disorders and Public Health Genomics who were laid off or removed after January 1, 2025, as part of any significant workforce reductions. The legislation authorizes $10 million per year for the data collection program from 2027 through 2031, with the goal of improving surveillance methods and standardizing how sickle cell disease is tracked across states.

This bill expands and enhances the United States-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund, commonly known as the BARD Fund, which has operated since 1977 to support joint agricultural research between American and Israeli scientists. The legislation modifies the fund to expand its scope beyond just U.S. and Israeli participation to include countries that signed the Abraham Accords Declaration and Arab states that have normalized relations with Israel. The bill creates a new BARD Fund Accelerator program designed to fast-track mid-stage agricultural research projects and provide technical guidance and consulting services to participating scientists. The legislation authorizes eight million dollars annually for fiscal years 2026 through 2030 for the core BARD Fund activities and an additional twelve million dollars per year for the same period to fund the new Accelerator program, totaling twenty million dollars yearly in new funding for the initiative.

The Protecting Patients from Rehab Fraud Act of 2025 directs the Department of Justice and the Government Accountability Office to investigate fraud and illegal practices in the drug addiction treatment industry within one year of enactment. The Attorney General's report must examine illegal recruitment tactics, insurance fraud schemes, patient dumping (abandoning patients once insurance stops paying), drug trafficking within facilities, and resulting homelessness and relapse rates, while the GAO must assess federal and state efforts to prevent insurance fraud and evaluate the effectiveness of government spending on rehabilitation facilities. Both agencies must provide Congress with recommendations to combat fraudulent practices and protect vulnerable patients seeking treatment. The bill affects rehabilitation facilities, insurance companies, patients in recovery, and federal oversight agencies responsible for monitoring the industry. No specific funding is allocated in the legislation, as it primarily requires investigative reporting rather than new program expenditures.

This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security to strengthen inspections of people and vehicles leaving the United States for Mexico to combat drug smuggling, weapons trafficking, and human smuggling. The legislation authorizes purchasing up to 50 advanced imaging systems for the southern border and requires hiring at least 200 new federal investigators—100 focused on currency and firearms smuggling and 100 on drug trafficking and human smuggling. By March 2027, DHS must inspect at least 10 percent of all vehicles crossing into Mexico, with plans to increase that to 15-20 percent by 2028. The bill requires quarterly reports on seized currency, firearms, and ammunition for four years, and a comprehensive report within one year on inspection resources, personnel, and capabilities. The new equipment authority expires after five years.

H.R. 6908 authorizes federal law enforcement grant funding to support "blue envelope programs," which help people with speech, hearing, or developmental disabilities communicate safely with police during traffic stops. The bill allows states and localities to use existing Byrne grants—federal crime control funding distributed through the Department of Justice—to pay for these programs, which typically involve distributing blue envelopes containing disability documentation and providing police training on how to interact with disabled individuals. The legislation affects law enforcement agencies, people with disabilities, and their families by creating a funding mechanism for a safety awareness initiative. No new funding is appropriated; instead, the bill redirects existing grant money to this purpose. The bill was introduced on December 18, 2025, with bipartisan support and was referred to the House Judiciary Committee.

This bill directs the Director of National Intelligence to produce a comprehensive assessment of artificial intelligence systems developed or used by China within 180 days of passage. Congress is concerned that Chinese-developed AI systems may contain built-in biases reflecting China's political or military goals and could pose risks to U.S. national security and democratic institutions. The required intelligence report must evaluate whether these AI systems contain discriminatory algorithms, analyze their training data and intended uses, assess their potential for espionage and information manipulation against the U.S. and allies, and identify threats to democracy and military decision-making. The Director of National Intelligence will coordinate this effort with the National Security Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, and other relevant intelligence agencies, and must provide recommendations for how the U.S. and its allies can monitor and counter malicious uses of Chinese AI technology. The bill contains no specific funding authorization but establishes a clear deadline for delivering this national security assessment to Congress.

H.R. 6826, the Critical Minerals Independence Act, expands a federal tax credit called the advanced manufacturing production credit to include "black mass"—a recycled material created by processing spent lithium-ion batteries. Black mass contains valuable minerals like lithium, cobalt, nickel, and graphite that are essential for manufacturing new batteries and electronics. By adding black mass to the tax credit program, the bill aims to incentivize domestic companies to invest in battery recycling infrastructure and reduce U.S. dependence on foreign sources for critical minerals. The tax credit expansion applies to black mass produced and sold starting in 2025, with no specific funding amount allocated in the bill itself—it operates through existing tax credit mechanisms. This legislation primarily affects battery recycling companies and advanced manufacturers that process used batteries for mineral recovery.

The All American Metal Act expands a federal tax credit called the advanced manufacturing production credit to include recycled copper that meets high purity standards. Specifically, the bill allows companies that produce copper from recycled materials and refine it to at least 99.9 percent purity to claim this tax credit, which reduces their tax liability for manufacturing qualifying materials. The legislation affects domestic copper manufacturers and recycling companies that process and purify copper for industrial use. The tax credit becomes effective for copper components produced and sold starting January 1, 2025, encouraging investment in domestic copper recycling and advanced manufacturing. The bill was introduced by Representative Vindman and two colleagues and referred to the House Ways and Means Committee for consideration.

This bill requires the CIA Director to prepare and submit a comprehensive intelligence assessment on two major Mexican drug trafficking organizations—the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco Cartel—within 90 days of the law's enactment. The assessment must detail the cartels' leadership structures, drug smuggling routes, methods for importing and producing synthetic drugs like fentanyl, chemical suppliers, revenue estimates, and tactics used to undermine U.S. and Mexican law enforcement efforts. The report will be shared with relevant congressional committees including the intelligence and defense committees, as well as committees focused on foreign relations, homeland security, and appropriations. The assessment can be submitted in classified form to protect sensitive intelligence sources and methods. The bill addresses the growing threat of transnational fentanyl trafficking by giving Congress detailed information needed to inform drug policy and counternarcotics strategy, with no specific funding amount specified in the legislation.