Monday, March 2nd, 2026
State of the Union Address: President Donald Trump gave his annual State of the Union address on Tuesday, Feb. 24th, the longest in US history.
In a two-hour speech delivered to a joint session of Congress, President Trump focused much of his speech on his economic agenda, touting his administration's effort to lower consumer prices. He said his policies have lowered the cost of housing, healthcare, and energy. He also announced that the White House plans to create retirement accounts for Americans without employer-sponsored plans, with qualified enrollees eligible to receive a $1,000 annual match from the federal government.
President Trump spoke about tax breaks in his One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Trump Accounts, his recently unveiled plan to increase healthcare cost transparency, and his efforts to make mortgages more accessible. He also defended the White House's tariff policies, despite what he called a "disappointing" ruling by the Supreme Court.
He called on Congress to pass legislation that would "end deadly sanctuary cities" as well as legislation "barring any state from granting commercial driver's licenses to illegal aliens." Other asks included passing voter ID legislation (S.1383), codifying his health care plan and passing a measure to restrict lawmakers' stock trading (H.R.7008).
President Trump dedicated the bulk of the second half of the speech to national security, in what was at once a foreign policy victory lap of his first year back in office and a warning to Iran, reiterating his oft-repeated tagline that in the first year of his second term he had ended eight wars -- and hoped that the ongoing war in Ukraine would be the ninth.
Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) Funding: The Senate failed to move forward on H.R.7147 (50-45), which would fund the Department of Homeland Security and end the partial government shutdown that is currently taking place. The major sticking point has been over reigning in Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. Democrats have been demanding reforms to how the Trump administration carries out its immigration enforcement campaign as a condition of funding DHS.
Information Quality Assurance: The House passed H.R.6329, would require that the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) update guidance to improve the quality of information and evidence that federal agencies use to promulgate federal regulations.
Preventing Mid-Air Collisions: The House failed to pass S.2503 (264-133), which would have required all civilian and military aircraft that operate in civilian airspace nationwide to be equipped with certain aircraft tracking technology to prevent mid-air collisions like the one over the Potomac River in Washington D.C. in January 2025. It would also repeal FY 2026 Defense Authorization provisions that prescribe less rigorous anti-collision systems for military helicopters operating in D.C. airspace and allow them to turn off their position signaling devices. A two-thirds majority was required to clear the legislation under a fast-track procedure. More than 130 Republicans voted against it.
The Senate passed the bill unanimously in December. But it stalled in the House amid opposition from Transportation Chair Sam Graves (R-Mo.), who recently introduced his own bipartisan bill. In recent weeks, the cross-chamber fight intensified, ultimately culminating in the rare floor defeat for a bill that was being considered under a process typically reserved for non-controversial legislation.
Don’t Mess with My Home Appliances: The House passed H.R.4626 (217-190), which overhauls the Energy Department's process for setting consumer product efficiency standards, including by ending the requirement to review standards every six years. DOE would be prohibited from setting an efficiency standard without first prescribing a test procedure for the product, and it must conduct an economic analysis to determine if the standard is economically justified; standards must result in minimum energy or water savings prescribed by the bill and could not reduce a product's utility or performance.
Homeowner Energy Freedom: The House passed H.R.4758 (210-199), which repeals three sections of the 2022 Democratic climate, health and tax reconciliation law (PL 117-169) that established energy efficiency and green energy programs, and it rescinds an estimated $300 million in unobligated funds appropriated by that law for those programs. Programs to be repealed include Home Electrification and Appliances Rebates, Home Energy Efficiency Contractor Training Grants, and the Energy Efficient Building Codes grant program.
