Monday, May 4th, 2026
Budget for the United States Government: The House passed S.Con.Res.33 (215-211), which directs Senate and House committees to write legislation to fund immigration enforcement agencies through the end of President Donald Trump’s second term. Passing the resolution would tee up the budget reconciliation process, letting Republican lawmakers provide mandatory funds for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol while bypassing Democratic opposition in the Senate — as long as the spending provisions comply with specific budget rules. The budget resolution’s reconciliation instructions would allow the Judiciary and Homeland Security committees to start drafting legislation to appropriate up to $70 billion each for the covered agencies through fiscal 2035.
DHS Funding: The House passed H.R.7147, which is the Senate passed DHS funding bill, ending the record 75-day partial government shutdown. President Donald Trump signed the measure into law Thursday, April 30th, funding DHS agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration, and the Secret Service through the end of September. At the end of the day, nothing was achieved. Republicans now plan to fund CBP and ICE through a partisan, filibuster-proof budget reconciliation process, while Democrats will receive none of the reforms they had demanded—the same demands that led to the shutdown in the first place.
Iran War Powers: The Senate rejected a motion to move forward on S.J.Res.184 (47-50), which would direct the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against the Islamic Republic of Iran that have not been authorized by Congress. The legislation fell short of the 60-vote threshold needed to move forward.
Farm, Food, and National Security: The House passed H.R.7567 (224-200), which modifies and reauthorizes for five years, through FY 2031, federal farm, nutrition assistance, rural development, conservation, forestry, trade, and other programs administered by the Agriculture Department. It creates new programs for nutrition assistance, trade and conservation, while repealing or scaling back other conservation, wetland and energy programs.
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance: The House passed S.4465 (261-111), which extends, for about six weeks, Title VII of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). FISA governs how US intelligence agencies can collect and search through phone calls, emails, text messages, and other electronic communications to or from agents of foreign governments and suspected terrorists located outside of the country. Opposition has been raised in response to reauthorizing FISA Section 702, which allows electronic surveillance without a warrant of non-U.S. persons overseas. The Senate passed the measure by unanimous consent on April 30th.
Revive Automatic Work Permit Extensions: The Senate rejected S.J.Res.99 (47-50), which would repeal the Trump administration’s rule ending automatic extensions for work permits. The interim final rule, issued by the Department of Homeland Security on Oct. 30, ended the agency’s practice of granting automatic 540-day extensions to qualifying foreign workers when their employment authorization document card expired, allowing them to continue to work. DHS said in an Oct. 29 news release it made the change to prioritize vetting and screening of foreign workers before granting a new EAD card and instructed foreign workers to seek renewals up to 180 days before their card’s expiration. The legislation fell short of the 60-vote threshold needed to move forward.
Colorado Plan to Retire Coal-Powered Plants: The Senate rejected S.J.Res.139 (46-52), which would have repealed the Trump administration’s disapproval of a Colorado plan to retire coal-powered plants to. Colorado submitted the plan to the Environmental Protection Agency in 2022 under the Clean Air Act’s Regional Haze Program, which requires states and federal agencies to work together to improve visibility in 156 national parks and wilderness areas by 2064.
IRS Whistleblower Program Improvement: The House passed H.R.7959, which would incentivize whistleblower reporting by requiring payment of interest on certain whistleblower awards and allowing whistleblowers to deduct attorney fees. The bill also would allow whistleblowers to proceed anonymously in the Tax Court and require de novo review of whistleblower awards.
Clergy Act: The House passed H.R.227, which creates a limited two-year window allowing clergy who previously opted out of Social Security and Medicare to revoke that election and re-enter the programs. During this window, eligible clergy would once again pay into Social Security and Medicare going forward, restoring access to future benefits. Under existing federal law, clergy members have the option to opt into Social Security and Medicare taxes upon their ordination. Once a clergy member did not opt in, they were permanently excluded from Social Security and Medicare coverage for any future ministerial employment wages.
Fallen Servicemembers Religious Heritage Restoration: The House passed S.1318 (235-191), which would mandate the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) identify Jewish soldiers from WWI and WWII buried in overseas military cemeteries under incorrect markers (e.g., Latin Crosses). It establishes a program to contact descendants and correct the markers.
