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United States Senate

United States Senate

Legislative body

Appears in 7 stories

Stories

House passes SPEED Act: a hard turn toward faster permits—and a new fight over who gets to build

Rule Changes

Next battleground; can pass, rewrite, or bury SPEED

Washington keeps saying it wants to "build faster." On December 18, 2025, the House passed the SPEED Act—a blunt instrument designed to squeeze environmental reviews and make lawsuits harder to use as a brake.

Updated Yesterday

Congress lets ACA subsidy cliff hit, setting up a 2026 premium shock

Rule Changes

Bipartisan working group negotiations collapsed; FY2026 funding bill passed without ACA subsidy provisions

Enhanced premium tax credits expired January 1, 2026. By late January, 1.2 to 1.4 million fewer Americans had enrolled for marketplace coverage, with total 2026 enrollment at 22.8–22.9 million.

Updated 5 days ago

House’s $900 billion defense bill ties troop raise, Ukraine aid and a boat-strike backlash

Rule Changes

Passed final NDAA 77–20 on December 17, preserving 65-year streak and sending bill to Trump.

President Trump signed a nearly $901 billion defense bill into law on December 18, 2025, cementing the 65th consecutive year Congress has passed a National Defense Authorization Act. It delivers troops a 3.8% pay raise and locks in $800 million for Ukraine weapons over two years.

Updated 6 days ago

Trump’s 2025 national security strategy revives Monroe Doctrine and pivots U.S. power to the Americas

Force in Play

Investigating legality of boat strikes and Venezuela operation

On December 5, 2025, the Trump administration released a 33-page National Security Strategy declaring a Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. The document formally revives the 19th-century idea of the Western Hemisphere as a U.S. sphere of influence and promises to reassert American preeminence across the Americas.

Updated 6 days ago

Congress confronts its war powers as US-Iran conflict escalates without authorization

Rule Changes

Voted 47-53 to reject Iran war powers resolution

The War Powers Resolution has been on the books for 53 years, designed to prevent a president waging a major war without Congress voting to authorize it. On March 5, with American troops engaged in combat against Iran and at least six service members dead, the Senate voted 47-53 to reject a resolution requiring presidential approval from Congress before continuing military operations, followed hours later by the House rejecting its parallel measure H. Con. Res. 38.

Updated Mar 19

Congress debates federal citizenship proof requirements for voter registration

Rule Changes

Floor vote scheduled for week of March 16 amid filibuster fight

Since 1993, Americans have registered to vote by attesting to their citizenship under penalty of perjury, with no proof required. The House passed the SAVE America Act 218-213 on February 11, 2026, mandating in-person documentary proof—a passport, birth certificate, or naturalization papers—for federal election registration.

Updated Mar 13

The Venezuela raid and congressional war powers

Force in Play

Defeated war powers resolution 50-51

Congress last declared war in 1942. Since then, presidents have ordered military strikes 212 times without formal declarations—but never quite like this. On January 3, 2026, U.S. special forces raided the Venezuelan capital, captured President Nicolás Maduro in his residence, and flew him to New York to face narcoterrorism charges. Eleven days later, Vice President JD Vance cast the deciding vote to kill a Senate resolution that would have required congressional authorization for further military action. Now, over a month after the raid, the operation faces mounting legal challenges: Maduro's defense team filed motions on February 4 questioning the federal court's jurisdiction over the extraordinary rendition case, while the International Court of Justice and UN human rights bodies have issued statements characterizing the operation as a violation of international law.

Updated Feb 6