Eugene Vindman

The Make Data Centers Pay Act amends federal electricity regulations to require data centers and high-density computing facilities using 20 megawatts or more of power to pay the full incremental cost of the electricity infrastructure needed to serve them, rather than having those costs shared with other utility customers. The bill prevents electric utilities from passing any portion of the costs associated with data centers—including the construction and operation of power generation, storage, and transmission equipment—to residential and business customers who are not data centers. Data centers would need to provide financial assurances or contributions to cover facility upgrades before construction begins, and they would remain responsible for paying these costs even if they stop purchasing electricity from the utility before all costs are recovered. The bill applies only to data centers that connect to the grid after enactment and does not affect existing arrangements that were already approved before the law takes effect. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and state utility regulators retain their authority to oversee how these rates are designed and can allow utilities to collect amounts exceeding incremental costs from data centers and credit those to other customers.

The Wigs for Warriors Act would require the military's TRICARE health insurance program to cover wigs for eligible beneficiaries who experience hair loss due to alopecia, including hair loss caused by cancer treatments and chemotherapy. Currently, TRICARE coverage for wigs is limited, and this bill would expand access by removing restrictions that limit recipients to one wig per lifetime and by broadening the conditions that qualify for coverage. The legislation applies to active-duty service members, retirees, veterans, and their families who use TRICARE benefits. The bill does not specify new funding amounts or implementation timelines, instead amending existing TRICARE provisions in federal law. This change would help military-connected individuals maintain their appearance and dignity while managing serious health conditions.

This bill establishes a federal grant program to fund child care services specifically designed for firefighters, paramedics, and emergency medical services personnel who work irregular shifts and nontraditional hours. The Department of Health and Human Services would award competitive grants to state lead agencies for three-year periods, which would then distribute funds to local emergency services providers and child care organizations to establish or expand child care programs tailored to these workers' schedules. Eligible uses of the grant money include startup costs for new child care facilities, provider training, direct financial assistance to families, care for sick or disabled children, and facility construction or renovation. The bill requires grant recipients to provide matching funds from non-federal sources, starting at 10 percent in year one and increasing to 33 percent by year three. The program authorizes $30 million annually from 2027 through 2031, with up to $2.5 million available for administrative and research costs, and includes requirements for annual audits and congressional reports studying the program's effectiveness and impact on recruitment and retention of emergency services personnel.

This resolution honors Ahmad Shah Massoud, the military leader of Afghanistan's Northern Alliance who was assassinated by Al-Qaeda and the Taliban on September 9, 2001, marking the 25th anniversary of his death. The resolution recognizes Massoud's decades of service to Afghanistan, including his role resisting Soviet occupation, his efforts to establish peace and power-sharing after the Soviet withdrawal, and his leadership of armed resistance against Taliban rule from 1996 onward. Under his command, the Northern Alliance maintained control of approximately 10 percent of Afghanistan and stood as the primary opposition force to the Taliban regime. The resolution acknowledges that Massoud's resistance efforts were crucial to laying the groundwork for subsequent U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001 attacks. As a non-binding resolution, this measure expresses congressional recognition and respect for Massoud's legacy without requiring any funding or enforcement mechanisms.

H.R. 10472 requires the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General to maintain adequate staffing levels in its Office of Investigations starting in fiscal year 2027 to handle current and projected investigative workloads. The bill allows the Postal Service Inspector General to use special hiring authorities to improve recruitment and retention of special agents. Beginning one year after the bill's enactment and annually thereafter, the Inspector General must submit a report to Congress assessing investigative staffing needs, vacancy rates, caseloads, and hiring progress. The legislation also permits the Office of Investigations to enter into cooperative agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies to assist with investigations related to postal matters. This bill affects the Postal Service's internal oversight capacity and indirectly impacts mail customers by strengthening accountability mechanisms within the agency.

The Back to School Tax Credit Act would create a new refundable tax credit to help families pay for school supplies. Under the bill, taxpayers could claim a credit of up to $250 per qualifying dependent child under age 17 each year, covering expenses for items like backpacks, notebooks, calculators, lunch boxes, writing instruments, and school uniforms for students attending public, private, or homeschools. The credit applies to actual qualified school supply expenses paid during the tax year, but is capped at $250 per child. The legislation would take effect for tax years beginning after the bill is enacted, with no specific funding amount designated in the text. The credit would be available to any taxpayer with dependent children in primary or secondary education.

This bill would require the Secretary of Homeland Security to automatically designate El Salvador for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a program that allows foreign nationals to live and work temporarily in the United States when their home countries face humanitarian crises or natural disasters. The designation would remain in effect for 18 months from September 9, 2026. Salvadoran nationals currently in the United States would be eligible to apply for TPS, which protects them from deportation and allows them to obtain work permits during the designated period. The bill was introduced in September 2026 by a bipartisan group of House members and does not specify additional funding requirements, as TPS administration is handled through existing Department of Homeland Security operations. This legislation bypasses the normal process where the Secretary decides whether conditions in a country warrant TPS designation and instead mandates the protection status for El Salvador.

The Sell Your Stocks or Step Down Act would ban the President, Vice President, Members of Congress, senior federal officials, federal judges, and their spouses and dependents from owning or trading individual stocks, cryptocurrencies, commodities, futures contracts, and prediction market contracts while serving in office. Affected individuals would have 30 days from the bill's enactment—or 30 days after taking office if they become a covered official later—to sell any prohibited investments at fair market value. The legislation includes several exceptions, such as allowing investments in widely diversified funds, Treasury bonds, municipal bonds, small businesses, and personal residences. Violations would result in significant financial penalties, including a daily fee of up to 10 percent of the value of prohibited holdings that remain unsold, with a maximum penalty of 50 percent of the portfolio value, plus additional fines of $10,000 per violation. All penalties would be collected by ethics offices and deposited into the Treasury for deficit reduction, with enforcement authority including the ability to seize federal salaries and refer cases to the Attorney General for civil action.

This bill protects federal employees and contractors who report wrongdoing by establishing that whistleblower protection laws always override nondisclosure agreements, executive orders, and agency policies. Under the legislation, any NDA provision that conflicts with federal whistleblower protections is void and cannot be enforced against employees making protected disclosures, including those to Congress. Federal employees can use this legal protection as a complete defense if an agency attempts to discipline them based on an NDA for reporting concerns. The Office of Personnel Management is required to incorporate this rule into all future NDA templates to ensure uniform compliance across the federal government. The bill applies to all federal employees and contractors with access to sensitive government information.

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.