Congressional Digest — February 2025: 19 Bills That Moved Past Committee
The temperature of the room is not the news. Here is what actually moved in February 2025: 19 bills past committee. Each entry below is the plain-language version, with the complete neutral breakdown a tap away.
Passed the House
HR 26 — Protecting American Energy Production Act. This bill would prohibit the President from declaring a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) without explicit authorization from Congress. It also expresses Congress's view that individual states should retain primary regulatory authority over fracking on state and private lands.
Protecting American Energy Production Act
HR 27 — HALT Fentanyl Act. The HALT Fentanyl Act permanently places fentanyl-related substances as a class into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, subjecting them to strict regulatory controls and criminal penalties. It also establishes a new registration process to make it easier for researchers to study Schedule I substances.
HR 29 — Laken Riley Act. The Laken Riley Act requires the Department of Homeland Security to detain undocumented immigrants who have been arrested for or charged with burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting.
HR 35 — Agent Raul Gonzalez Officer Safety Act. This bill creates new federal crimes for fleeing from a U.S. Border Patrol agent or assisting law enforcement officer in a motor vehicle within 100 miles of the U.S. border. It sets criminal penalties, including mandatory minimum prison terms when the fleeing results in death or serious bodily injury. Non-U.S.
Agent Raul Gonzalez Officer Safety Act
HR 77 — Midnight Rules Relief Act. This bill would allow Congress to disapprove multiple federal regulations at once using a single joint resolution, rather than requiring a separate resolution for each rule. It applies specifically to regulations submitted for review during the final year of a president's term.
HR 226 — Eastern Band of Cherokee Historic Lands Reacquisition Act. This bill would transfer specified lands and easements in Monroe County, Tennessee, into federal trust for the use and benefit of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. The lands include the Sequoyah Museum, the Chota Memorial, and the Tanasi Memorial, along with surrounding land to support cultural programs.
Eastern Band of Cherokee Historic Lands Reacquisition Act
HR 250 — To direct the Joint Committee on the Library to procure a statue of Benjamin Franklin for placement in the Capitol. This bill directs the Joint Committee on the Library to commission and install a statue of Benjamin Franklin in the U.S. Capitol in a permanent, publicly accessible location. The contract for the statue must be signed by December 31, 2025, and the statue must be in place by December 31, 2026.
HR 386 — Chinese Currency Accountability Act of 2025. This bill requires the U.S. to oppose any increase in China's currency weight within the International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Rights basket unless China meets specific compliance conditions. The Treasury Department must direct U.S.
Chinese Currency Accountability Act of 2025
HR 692 — China Exchange Rate Transparency Act of 2025. This bill directs the U.S. representative at the International Monetary Fund to push for greater transparency from China about how it manages its currency exchange rate.
China Exchange Rate Transparency Act of 2025
HR 776 — Nutria Eradication and Control Reauthorization Act of 2025. This bill reauthorizes through FY2030 a federal program that allows the Department of the Interior to provide financial assistance to states for controlling or eradicating nutria, an invasive semi-aquatic rodent, and restoring marshland that nutria have damaged.
Nutria Eradication and Control Reauthorization Act of 2025
HR 788 — DOE and SBA Research Act. This bill requires the Department of Energy and the Small Business Administration to formally collaborate on research and development activities, with small businesses included where appropriate.
HR 804 — Rural Small Business Resilience Act. This bill requires the Small Business Administration's Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience to ensure that people in rural disaster-declared areas have full access to disaster assistance programs.
Rural Small Business Resilience Act
HR 818 — SPUR Act. The SPUR Act requires federal agencies to track and report, on their annual small business contracting scorecards, how many small businesses are receiving a federal prime contract for the first time, broken down by specific groups including service-disabled veterans, HUBZone businesses, socially and…
HR 825 — Assisting Small Businesses Not Fraudsters Act. This bill bars individuals convicted of financial crimes or making false statements related to certain COVID-19 relief programs from receiving future Small Business Administration financial assistance.
Assisting Small Businesses Not Fraudsters Act
HR 828 — SERV Act. The SERV Act requires two federal agencies to produce reports related to veteran and reservist small business owners.
HR 832 — Small Business Advocacy Improvements Act of 2025. This bill expands the role of the Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy to include studying small businesses' place in the international economy and representing small business interests before foreign governments and international organizations on regulatory and trade matters.
Small Business Advocacy Improvements Act of 2025
HR 835 — 9/11 Memorial and Museum Act. This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security to award a one-time grant of between $5 million and $10 million to the nonprofit that operates the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York for its operation, security, and maintenance.
HR 836 — Emergency Wildfire Fighting Technology Act of 2025. This bill requires the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of the Interior to jointly evaluate a container aerial firefighting system—which uses airdrop-capable disposable containers of water or fire retardant to increase available airlift resources—for use in fighting wildfires.
Emergency Wildfire Fighting Technology Act of 2025
Passed the Senate
S 32 — LACA. This bill would add College Station, Texas, and El Centro, California, as locations where federal courts must hold sessions in their respective judicial districts.
Every bill above links to its full breakdown — purpose, who it affects, both sides of the argument, and how your senators voted. The record is always better than the rumor.
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