Monday, February 9th, 2026
Government Funding: Congress passed H.R.7148, which is a $1.2 trillion fiscal year (FY) 2026 minibus funding package, including securing full-year appropriations for major federal departments including Defense, HHS, Education, Transportation, and HUD, through September 2026. The bill, which avoided a shutdown, maintains core education/research funding, extends telehealth, and includes a short-term, two-week funding measure for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Critical Mineral Dominance: The House passed H.R.4090 (224-195), which would expand mining on federal lands in the US to counter China’s global dominance of critical minerals used in everything from defense equipment to cell phones. The bill would codify parts of President Donald Trump’s executive actions on boosting domestic critical mineral extraction, production, and processing. If passed, the Interior Department would have to expedite approval of priority hardrock mining projects on federal lands. Hardrock minerals include iron, copper, zinc, and steel, as well as precious metals such as gold and silver. They are largely imported into the US, including from China, for use in manufacturing electric vehicle batteries, solar panels, semiconductors, defense equipment, and other technology.
D.C. Income and Franchise Tax Conformity and Revision Temporary Amendment: The House passed H.J.Res.142 (215-, which would reject a recently enacted temporary Washington, DC, law to decouple the city’s tax laws from certain changes to the federal tax code made by Republicans’ 2025 tax law. The DC Council approved a pair of bills at the end of 2025 after DC’s chief financial officer found that tax provisions in Republicans’ budget reconciliation package (Public Law 119-21) created a $539.4 million gap in the local budget through fiscal 2029 due to a drop in estimated tax revenue. The city has faced multiple budgetary challenges, including a $1 billion gap in its fiscal 2025 budget after Congress omitted a long-standing appropriations provision to allow DC to spend its own revenue that year. It’s also grappled with deep cuts by the White House to the federal workforce and vacancies in commercial real estate since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Veterans Readiness and Employment Improvement: The House passed H.R.980, aims to improve the VA’s Veterans Readiness and Employment (VR&E) program by increasing counseling flexibility, expanding approved vocational training options, strengthening outreach, and setting clearer timelines for benefit decisions.
Ernest Peltz Accrued Veterans Benefits: The House passed H.R.3123, which allows pension benefits awarded to a veteran before death—but paid afterward—to be distributed to surviving family members or the veteran’s estate, rather than reverting back to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
