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Congressional Updates

President Trump Signs 6 Executive Orders on Education

The orders include:

Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Education
Advancing Artificial Intelligence Education for American Youth
Preparing Americans for High-Paying Skilled Trade Jobs of the Future
Reinstating Common Sense School Discipline Policies
Transparency Regarding Foreign Influence at American Universities
White House Initiative to Promote Excellence and Innovation at Historically Black Colleges and Universities

See NCSL's EO Tracker for more detals: 2025 Administration Actions: Key Executive Orders and Policies

Department of Education to Resume Student Loan Collections Activity

The Office of Federal Student Aid will resume collections activity on defaulted student loans, including wage garnishment, on May 5 for the first time since March 2020. According to the department, more than 5 million borrowers are currently in default and another 4 million are currently late on their payments and at serious risk of defaulting. Borrowers are expected to receive communication from the department over the next two weeks about actions they can take to avoid default or to rehabilitate their loan. The department also announced it "anticipates" processing nearly 2 million applications for income-driven repayment plans starting in May. Applications processing was paused in August 2024. Read more

Justice Department Cancels Hundreds of Grants for Ongoing Programs

The Department of Justice on Tuesday canceled at least 300 grants administered by the Office of Justice Programs. Attorney General Pam Bondi stated the cancellations reflect the administration's priorities. The grant programs funded organizations that provide crime victim services, violence prevention programs, reentry services and anti-trafficking hotlines, among other services. Organizations affected by the cuts have 30 days to appeal the DOJ's decision. Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-justice-department-cancels-hundreds-grants-police-crime-victims-2025-04-23/

Federal Trade Commission Issues New Children's Online Privacy Rules

The new rules include opt-in consent requirements for parents before their children's personal data can be shared with third parties for targeted advertising. Moreover, the rules allow companies to retain children's data only as long as necessary for the specific purpose for which it was collected and specify that the data cannot be kept indefinitely. The rules also expand the definition of personal information to include biometric identifiers and government-issued identifiers.

The Federal Trade Commission finalized its rule changes in January and published the rules to the federal register. The rules will go into effect June 23, 2025, but companies have until April 22, 2026, to comply. The new rules are intended to strengthen the protection of personal information collected from children by taking into account advancements in technology that have occurred since the FTC's last rule update in 2013.

$340 Million for Agriculture Disaster Assistance

The Department of Agriculture has announced in a press release that $340.6 million will be distributed through the Disaster Assistance Fund directly to farmers, ranchers, small businesses and rural communities across 31 states and territories to support recovery from declared disasters, including those caused by hurricanes since 2022. Funding will be used to rebuild key infrastructure, support economic development, restore safe drinking water and provide technical assistance.

CO2 Rule Repealed

The National Performance Management Measures; Assessing Performance of the National Highway System, Greenhouse Gas Emissions Measure was published in the Federal Register by the Federal Highway Administration. It repeals a Biden Administration rule requiring state departments of transportation to set and report on declining CO2 targets. Read more.

Updated Bicycling Standards

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has updated its mandatory minimum performance standards for three-year state highway safety plans to improve bicyclist safety. Specifically, state plans are mandated to have strategic core performance numbers to reduce bicyclist fatalities. State 2027-2029 plans are due in July 2026. Read more.

Congressional Updates

Reconciliation Heats Up as Congress Returns

Following the April recess, members of Congress have returned to Washington and are turning their attention to the budget reconciliation process-an expedited legislative mechanism that enables the Senate to advance certain fiscal measures, including tax, spending and debt limit legislation, with a simple majority vote, thereby circumventing the filibuster.

Committee chairs are currently organizing meetings to begin drafting their respective budget proposals, as directed under the reconciliation instructions. The objective is to reduce federal expenditures by as much as $2 trillion while providing upwards of $4.6 trillion in tax cuts. A central focus of this effort is Medicaid, with the House Energy and Commerce Committee instructed to identify $880 billion in savings. Achieving cuts of this magnitude will likely necessitate significant structural changes to the Medicaid program.

Other federal-state programs under potential consideration for reductions include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and infrastructure-related funding. These programs, which represent major components of state-federal partnerships, may face substantial revisions depending on the final language of the reconciliation package.

Compounding the urgency of the negotiations is the approaching debt ceiling. According to the Congressional Budget Office's March forecast, the United States could reach its statutory borrowing limit between August and September. However, the precise timing will be influenced by the amount of federal revenue collected during the April income tax period. Should revenues fall short and accelerate the debt ceiling deadline, pressure will intensify for lawmakers to finalize a reconciliation agreement by early summer-significantly narrowing the discussion window.

Congress Considers Elimination of Social Services Block Grant

As part of the reconciliation process, Congress is considering a proposal to eliminate the Social Services Block Grant, a flexible source of funding for states and territories to support a variety of social service programs, including child care, child welfare, case management services and protective services for adults. In fiscal year 2024, the block grant was funded at $1.6 billion. Eliminating the grant would shift the cost of the services it supports onto states.

In FY 2022, 20 million people, 45% of whom were children, received services supported by block grant funding, with the highest share of grant spending going toward child welfare and child protective services, counseling and support services, and adult protective services, which prevent and remedy abuse, neglect and exploitation of elderly and disabled adults. Exercising their option to transfer up to 10% of their TANF funds to the block grant, states transferred $1.14 billion in FY 2021. Read more

House Financial Services Committee Advances Stablecoin Legislation

The STABLE Act aims to establish a federal regulatory framework for stablecoin, while delineating a more limited role for state regulators. The legislation defines stablecoin as a digital asset whose value is pegged to another asset, such as the dollar. A state regime for regulating stablecoin would need to certify annually to the U.S. Treasury that it "meets or exceeds" the criteria set forth in the federal framework. If a state issuer wants to issue its stablecoin in another state, it would be required to notify the host state regulator at least 30 days prior to operating in that state and follow the rules of the host state where they "exceed" those of the home state.

The bipartisan legislation received support from all committee Republicans and some Democrats. Similar stablecoin legislation has been approved by the Senate Banking Committee and there will likely be some efforts to reconcile the differing drafts. NCSL has not taken a position on the legislation and is closely reviewing it to determine next steps. NCSL has consistently and strongly advocated for state sovereignty in financial services regulation.

GAO Reports on Generative AI's Environmental and Human Effects

The Government Accountability Office reports that while generative AI may bring beneficial effects for people, it also creates risks and challenges that could result in negative human effects on society, culture and people. The GAO highlights five risks: lack of accountability; lack of data privacy; unintentional bias; unsafe systems and cybersecurity concerns. The report also recommends actions that policymakers can take to enhance the benefits and address the challenges of generative AI. The GAO is an independent, nonpartisan agency within the legislative branch of the U.S. government. It provides auditing, evaluative and investigative services for Congress upon request of members, committees or subcommittees. Read more