MIL USHOR-2b Engine

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Clay Higgins (R-LA)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Clay Higgins (R-LA) and Congressman Cleo Fields (D-LA) introduced H.R. 4800, the Fisheries Modernization Act, which would expand fishery disaster relief programs to include wild-caught crawfish.

As a commercial fishery, the wild-caught crawfish industry does not qualify for disaster relief programs through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Wild-caught crawfishermen are also not currently eligible for fishery disaster assistance under the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

The bill would amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to include the red swamp crawfish and white river crawfish as eligible fisheries. The change would allow the Secretary of Commerce to declare a fishery disaster for these species following natural or man-made disasters, failure of water management infrastructure, or other significant decreases in fish stock and fishery revenue.

“The 2023 drought led to heavy losses across the entire crawfish industry, and while we secured disaster relief through USDA and the Small Business Administration, there was no equivalent program for wild-caught crawfishermen under the Commerce Department,” said Congressman Higgins. “Our bill would add crawfish species in the Atchafalaya Basin to the Magnuson-Stevens Act to ensure those fisheries are eligible in future disasters. This is an important step to bring parity across the entire industry.”

“Louisiana’s crawfish harvesters are a vital part of our state’s economy and heritage. This legislation not only recognizes that legacy, but it also ensures that when future disasters hit, they won’t be left behind. Including wild-caught crawfish under the Magnuson-Stevens Act is a simple, yet practical way to give this industry the federal support it deserves,” said Congressman Fields.

Read the bill here.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09)

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today announced that the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) will receive a grant of $77,000 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for a project titled “Modulating drug efflux transporter expression on the macrophage reservoir of HIV.” The research is under the direction of Associate Professor Dr. Theodore Cory in the College of Pharmacy.

Congressman Cohen made the following statement:

“I am always pleased to see the National Institutes of Health investing in research being conducted at our medical school. The better we understand HIV, the more lives we can extend and save. I congratulate Dr. Cory and UTHSC for undertaking this important work, especially in our community which has one of the highest rates of new HIV diagnoses in the country.”

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09)

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today announced that Rhodes College will receive a grant of $180,000 from the National Science Foundation for a project entitled “RUI: Interrogating Catalytic Efficiency through Kinetic, Structural and Small-Molecule Guided Investigation of L-DOPA 2,3 Dioxygenases.” The research is under the direction of Professor Larryn Peterson, Chair of the Rhodes Chemistry Department.

Congressman Cohen made the following statement:

“I congratulate Rhodes College and Dr. Peterson for receiving this prestigious National Science Foundation grant. This work in pure science involving dopamine will lead to important discoveries and is likely to have practical applications outside the laboratory.”

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09)

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today announced that St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital will receive a grant of $3,428,212 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for a project entitled epigenetic checkpoint regulation of naïve T-cell quiescence and peripheral tolerance. The research is under the direction of Dr. Yongqiang Feng.

Congressman Cohen made the following statement: 

“I am always pleased to see our National Institutes of Health investing in the work of our premiere children’s research hospital. I am confident the work supported by this grant will lead to important findings and potentially save lives.”

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Kim Schrier, M.D. (WA-08)

WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Representatives Kim Schrier, M.D. (WA-08) and Sean Casten (IL-06) led 77 House Democrats in a letter to top health insurance companies urging them to continue to provide coverage for vaccines currently recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).

In June 2025, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 members of ACIP. This was alarming, given Secretary Kennedy’s longstanding history of vaccine skepticism and cozy relationships with the anti-vaccine community. In fact, he immediately appointed several vaccine opponents to the advisory committee and made independent changes to vaccine recommendations with no scientific basis. In addition to concerns about public health, this raises concerns that insurers might not cover the cost of vaccines if they no longer have the official ACIP recommendation. 

“Insurance coverage for high quality, effective vaccines without cost sharing for beneficiaries is a critical component of ensuring vaccine uptake, and protecting public health,” the members wrote. “…Secretary Kennedy announced the sudden ouster of all seventeen members of ACIP, and pledged to replace them with appointees who would restore ‘public trust above any specific pro- or anti-vaccine agenda.’ This announcement, taken in the context of Secretary Kennedy’s longstanding history of vaccine skepticism, has caused concern that under Secretary Kennedy’s influence, ACIP may re-evaluate its support for time-tested, safe, and effective vaccines.

Since the enactment of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, insurance plans subject to preventative services requirements have been required to cover routine vaccinations, which are recommended by ACIP and adopted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as part of its vaccine schedule. Insurance coverage for high-quality, effective vaccines without cost sharing for beneficiaries is a critical component of ensuring vaccine uptake and protecting public health.

In addition to Reps. Casten and Schrier, the letter was signed by Reps. Auchincloss, Jake; Balint, Becca; Barragán, Nanette; Bera, Ami; Beyer, Donald; Brownley, Julia; Budzinski, Nikki; Carter, Troy; Casten, Sean; Cherfilus-McCormick, Sheila; Chu, Judy; Cisneros, Gilbert; Clarke, Yvette; Cleaver, Emanuel; Cohen, Steve; Correa, J.; Courtney, Joe; Craig, Angie; Davis, Danny; Dean, Madeleine; DelBene, Suzan; Deluzio, Christopher; Dexter, Maxine; Dingell, Debbie; Elfreth, Sarah; Evans, Dwight; Foster, Bill; Frost, Maxwell; Garamendi, John; García, Jesús; Garcia, Robert; Garcia, Sylvia; Huffman, Jared; Jackson, Jonathan; Jayapal, Pramila; Johnson, Henry; Johnson, Julie; Khanna, Ro; Krishnamoorthi, Raja; Landsman, Greg; Larsen, Rick; Latimer, George; Lynch, Stephen; Magaziner, Seth; Mannion, John; Matsui, Doris; McBath, Lucy; McBride, Sarah; McClellan, Jennifer; McIver, LaMonica; Menendez, Robert; Moore, Gwen; Morrison, Kelly; Norton, Eleanor; Pingree, Chellie; Pocan, Mark; Quigley, Mike; Ramirez, Delia; Schakowsky, Janice; Schneider, Bradley; Scholten, Hillary; Schrier, Kim; Sewell, Terri; Simon, Lateefah; Soto, Darren; Thanedar, Shri; Thompson, Bennie; Thompson, Mike; Tlaib, Rashida; Tokuda, Jill; Tonko, Paul; Trahan, Lori; Underwood, Lauren; Vasquez, Gabe; Velázquez, Nydia; Watson Coleman, Bonnie; and Williams, Nikema.

The letter was sent to the CEOs of UnitedHealth Group, Aetna, Kaiser Permanente, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Elevance Health, The Cigna Group, and Health Care Services Corporation.

A copy of the letter can be found here. Text of the letter can be found below.

Dear Mr. Hemsley, Ms. Broudreaux, Mr. Bertolini, Mr. Cordani, Mr. Adams, Mr. Smith and Ms. Keck:

Since the enactment of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, insurance plans subject to preventative services requirements have been required to cover routine vaccinations, which are recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and adopted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as part of its vaccine schedule. Insurance coverage for high quality, effective vaccines without cost sharing for beneficiaries is a critical component of ensuring vaccine uptake, and protecting public health.

The ACIP consists of a panel of public health and medical experts who assess FDA-approved vaccines and make a recommendation to the CDC based on the balance of evidence as to whether new vaccines should be recommended. The ACIP has been assessing immunizations for 60 years, and convenes regularly and transparently to discuss its recommendations. The CDC and industry alike have historically followed the recommendations of ACIP because the committee is the nonpartisan gold standard voice of public health on issues of immunization.

Nonetheless, on June 1, 2025, Secretary Kennedy announced the sudden ouster of all seventeen members of ACIP, and pledged to replace them with appointees who would restore “public trust above any specific pro- or anti-vaccine agenda.” This announcement, taken in the context of Secretary Kennedy’s longstanding history of vaccine skepticism, has caused concern that under Secretary Kennedy’s influence, ACIP may re-evaluate its support for time-tested, safe, and effective vaccines.

As of June 2025, at the recommendation of ACIP, insurers subject to preventative services coverage requirements are obligated to provide age appropriate coverage for high-impact vaccines, including those for COVID-19, hepatitis, HPV, measles, meningitis, flu, pneumonia, RSV, chicken pox, mpox, and shingles. Insurance coverage of these routine vaccinations ensures that deadly and dangerous diseases remain controlled, and the American people are protected.

On June 23, 2025, Politico reported that insurers have been put in a challenging position, without clear guidance on which vaccines to cover if ACIP’s recommendations change. Granted anonymity, insurers expressed willingness to follow the science regardless of tumult within ACIP.

Given the likelihood of conflicting and politically-influenced guidance that may now come from ACIP, we ask that you promptly respond to the following questions:

1. Will you commit to continuing to provide coverage, without cost-sharing, for vaccines approved by ACIP prior to June 24, 2025, if ACIP changes its recommendations?
2. In lieu of some scientifically dubious recommendations from the newly appointed ACIP, will you instead commit to covering evidence-based vaccination schedules recommended by a preponderance of trusted experts at national medical societies?

Thank you for your prompt response to these questions. We look forward to working together to ensure continued access to safe and effective vaccines.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Kim Schrier, M.D. (WA-08)

WASHINGTON, DC — Congresswoman Kim Schrier, M.D. (WA-08) introduced the Newborn Screening Saves Lives Reauthorization Act – a bipartisan bill that is an essential step in our nation’s fight to eliminate preventable childhood deaths and severe disabilities through the increased use of comprehensive and standardized newborn screening tests. The bill reauthorizes assistance to states so they can improve and expand their newborn screening programs.

“As a pediatrician, I’ve taken care of patients whose conditions were discovered on their newborn screen. And because we caught the diseases early, they are doing great!” said Congresswoman Kim Schrier. “I am proud to introduce this legislation with a bipartisan group of my colleagues that will provide the essential tools to screen babies for rare but treatable conditions, and save lives.”

“As an OB-GYN, I’ve seen firsthand how newborn screening catches health conditions early and saves lives,” said Congresswoman Morrison.” Newborn screening reduces health care costs for families, increases knowledge about treatable diseases, and makes our kids healthier and safer. I’m proud to partner with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to reauthorize this life-saving program.”

“For years, the Newborn Screening Saves Lives Act has provided parents with additional resources, enabling early identification and treatment for their babies. Reauthorizing this bipartisan legislation will continue to save lives, support families, and reduce long-term healthcare costs. As a former dentist, I know firsthand the value of early diagnosis and treatment, which is why I’ve been proud to champion efforts to reauthorize this program. This legislation has proven to be successful in enhancing these screening programs nationwide, and I am grateful for the leadership on both sides of the aisle working to address this important issue,” said Congressman Simpson.

“I’m proud to co-lead the Newborn Screening Saves Lives Reauthorization Act because every baby deserves a healthy start and every parent deserves the peace of mind that comes from early detection of life-threatening conditions,” said Congressman Langworthy. “Last year, I successfully advocated for Krabbe Disease to be added to the federal newborn screening recommendations – an important step in catching rare, life-threatening conditions before it’s too late. As medical science advances, we must ensure our screening programs keep pace to protect the most vulnerable among us. This reauthorization will undoubtedly save lives and spare countless families from unthinkable heartbreak.”

The bill builds on Congresswoman Schrier’s resume of fighting for affordable and accessible healthcare for children of all ages, including newborns. Earlier this year, Congresswoman Schrier led a bipartisan effort to ensure our nation’s newborn screening programs are fully funded and supported. The bill is co-led by U.S. Representatives Mike Simpson (ID-02), Kelly Morrison (MN-03), and Nick Langworthy (NY-23).

MORE INFORMATION ON LEGISLATION: 

Before the original Newborn Screening Saves Lives Act was enacted in 2008, only ten states and the District of Columbia required infants to be screened for a complete panel of recommended disorders, and there was no federal repository of information on the diseases. Today, all 50 states and the District of Columbia screen for at least 30 of the 35 currently-recommended core conditions. As a result, over 12,000 babies with one of these treatable, rare conditions are now identified each year. Unfortunately, critical gaps and challenges still remain. Discrepancies in the number of tests given from state to state cause children to tragically die or become permanently disabled from otherwise treatable disorders. 

The Newborn Screening Saves Lives Reauthorization Act will help to avoid these preventable tragedies by providing states with the resources they need to improve their newborn screening programs and to uniformly test for all recommended disorders.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Carol Miller (R-WV)

Congresswoman Miller began by discussing the growing number of Medicare Advantage enrollees both nationally and in West Virginia’s First Congressional District and the factors leading to increased enrollment. 

“I appreciate the opportunity to discuss the Medicare Advantage (MA) program with you all today, especially as the program has grown with my generation nationally and in my district.

West Virginia’s population is aging, and over a quarter of my home state’s population receives their healthcare through Medicare. Of those patients, 54 percent of West Virginians choose to enroll in Medicare Advantage plans.

Patients in my district have gravitated towards MA plans because of their affordability and supplemental benefits they provide. The time and effort it takes to travel to a doctor is a key factor for many patients when deciding what type of plan to enroll in, so MA plans have become increasingly popular among patients that need transportation benefits,” said Congresswoman Miller. 

The Congresswoman then discussed concerns regarding reimbursements to healthcare providers and asked Dr. David Basel, Vice President of Health Clinical Quality and Population Health Officer at Avera Health, how Medicare Advantage providers can better address those concerns and what can be done to provide additional benefits to rural patients. 

“As MA coverage has increased in West Virginia, we have unfortunately also heard some concerns from patients and providers around prior authorization and payments.”

“Across the country, rural hospitals and healthcare providers report experiencing lower reimbursements from MA plans. This has led some providers to leave MA networks which then creates coverage gaps in rural areas. Dr. Basel, some quick questions. What can be done to ensure Medicare Advantage plans work with rural providers to allow beneficiaries to get the coverage they need?” asked Congresswoman Miller. 

“Particularly in the rural [areas], we are not as sophisticated at being able to fight on behalf of the prior authorizations. So, anything we are doing to streamline that process. You’re hearing that same theme over and over again about transparency [and] efficiency. One of the things that I think is going to be helpful as we talk about this […] I’m a clinical informaticist as well and we always talk about making the right thing to do the easy thing to do. And right now we are not doing that effectively. So, if you can do that to remove a lot of the administrative burden, that is where I think we’re going to make progress,” said Dr. Basel.

“To follow up, Dr. Basel, how can we make rural areas more in line with urban areas in terms of access and value? As I said in my opening, my constituents are huge fans of transportation benefits. Do you think increasing the availability of MA supplemental benefits in rural areas helps address needs like transportation issues or telehealth availability?” asked Congresswoman Miller.
 
“When we look at our own provider sponsored Medicare Advantage plan, I come back a little bit to that network adequacy. It is difficult for us to expand into a lot of our counties because we can’t get the specialty access that it requires to be able to even offer MA plans in a lot of our rural counties. So, that limits us to kind of some of our bigger counties. There are some Telemedicine improvements that have helped with that. The allowance of Telemedicine to count as network adequacy, but I think they need to go a little bit further. That’s still probably the primary item that’s preventing us from expanding into some rural counties,” responded Dr. Basel.
 
Congresswoman Miller concluded by discussing concerns associated with the prior authorization process with Dr. Brian Miller, Associate Professor of Medicine and Business at John Hopkins University. 
 
“Dr. Miller, I have heard concerns from rural providers about the prior authorization process when working with Medicare Advantage plans. Rural providers are less likely to have resources for dedicated teams to handle prior authorization requests and denials. [Additionally,] the paperwork associated with prior authorization takes time away from patient care. Dr. Miller, can you walk me through the process for a referral for a patient who is covered by Medicare Advantage versus traditional Medicare? What are the staff resources required for those two types of admissions and how can we streamline these processes?” asked Congresswoman Miller.
 
“I would say it depends on the plan and depends upon the service. Whether you’re talking elective surgery, an MRI imaging study, or whatever it is. I actually did part of my training in Cooperstown, New York, a village of 1,400 people in Upstate New York in a small 228 bed hospital. So, I would say that the main issue is that the administrative friction takes time, and when that administrative friction happens it takes time which takes away from patient care and that’s one of the things we all have mentioned here is that eliminating those steps of human driven data submission, human driven diagnosis coding. Have the clinician drive the data to the plan but have it be easy, I am sitting next to an informaticist, have it be one click. So a lot of those friction steps in prior authorization is the actual process as opposed to the plan oversight,” responded Dr. Miller.
 

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Sam Graves (6th District of Missouri)

WASHINGTON, DC – Transportation and Infrastructure Committee leaders introduced legislation in the U.S. House that would provide the most robust legislative reform of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and federal disaster assistance programs in decades. 

 

The Fixing Emergency Management for Americans (FEMA) Act of 2025 (H.R. 4669) was introduced by Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO); Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-WA); former Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Subcommittee lead Republican Daniel Webster (R-FL); and Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Subcommittee Ranking Member Greg Stanton (D-AZ). The FEMA Act was introduced following Graves’ and Larsen’s release of a discussion draft bill on May 8, 2025, and the subsequent feedback the Committee received on the draft from Members of Congress and the emergency management stakeholder community.

The FEMA Act streamlines the federal government’s disaster response and recovery programs while also making FEMA a cabinet-level agency once again that is directly accountable to the President.  The bill rewards effective state and local preparedness, protects taxpayers, cuts red tape, and ensures that relief efforts are fast, fair, and free from political bias.

“The American people need an emergency management system that works quickly and effectively, not one that makes disaster recovery more difficult,” said Chairman Graves. “But time and time again, we’ve heard the same story from state and local officials, emergency managers, and disaster victims: the federal process is too slow, complicated, and disconnected from the realities on the ground. Communities trying to rebuild are forced to navigate a maze of complicated rules, conflicting timelines, and mountains of burdensome paperwork. FEMA is in need of serious reform, and the goal of the FEMA Act of 2025 is to fix it. This bill does more than any recent reforms to cut through the bureaucracy, streamline programs, provide flexibility, and return FEMA to its core purpose of empowering the states to lead and coordinating the federal response when it’s needed.”

“Billion-dollar disasters—like the devastating 2021 flooding in Skagit and Whatcom counties – threaten the safety and livelihood of communities in Washington and across America as the severity of disasters increase,” Ranking Member Larsen said. “This bipartisan bill will make FEMA stronger and more efficient, giving it the tools it needs to provide relief to disaster-impacted communities like those in my district hit by the 2024 Bomb Cyclone. Thank you to my counterpart, Chairman Sam Graves, for partnering on this bipartisan solution.”

“As a Floridian, I know firsthand the damage that hurricanes and natural disasters bring, and how important effective preparation, response and relief is when tragedy strikes,” said Rep. Webster. “Florida has set the gold standard for disaster mitigation and emergency response, and this legislation builds on that success at the national level. By streamlining FEMA and cutting red tape, we ensure that federal disaster response is faster, more efficient, and accountable to the American people.”

“FEMA’s mission is to help Americans in their darkest hour. The agency isn’t perfect, and its job is getting harder as disasters grow more frequent and more severe. But the solution is not to tear FEMA down – it’s to work across the aisle to build FEMA up,” said Ranking Member Stanton. “This bipartisan bill takes common-sense steps to streamline the agency and make sure communities get disaster assistance quickly, efficiently and fairly.”

The text of the FEMA Act of 2025 is available here.

A section-by-section summary of the FEMA Act is available here.

 Summary of the FEMA Act of 2025 

The FEMA Act of 2025 restores FEMA’s original status as an independent agency, reporting directly to the President and overseen by its own inspector general.

• This structure mirrors the Stafford Act, which authorizes the President to direct federal disaster response efforts through the Disaster Relief Fund.
• Returning FEMA to a Cabinet-level agency will empower the Administrator to lead a coordinated, government-wide response to disasters.
• FEMA will become more agile and focused on helping Americans – not bogged down by having its resources and personnel diverted to support non-Stafford Act disasters. 

The FEMA Act of 2025 puts disaster-impacted states in the driver’s seat, helps dollars reach communities faster, injects common sense, and cuts red tape that can drag out disaster recovery for decades.

• By replacing the slow and bureaucratic rebuilding process with faster, project-based grants, states will be able to set the pace of recovery, reduce their dependence on costly consultants, and prioritize the highest need projects, without having to take out expensive loans or wait years for reimbursement.
• For the first time, states are incentivized to make their own investments in mitigation, robust state rainy day funds, and private insurance policies.
• This legislation also makes critical reforms to federal permitting and procurement processes to speed up rebuilding projects and eliminate unnecessary delays.
• In addition, the FEMA Act of 2025 establishes a Recovery Task Force charged with closing out more than 1,000 lingering disaster declarations dating back to Hurricane Katrina and directs FEMA to improve coordination across all federal agencies involved in disaster recovery. 

The FEMA Act of 2025 makes commonsense changes to help disaster aid work better for survivors, while saving taxpayer dollars.

• Disaster survivors will complete a single, streamlined application when applying for assistance, significantly reducing the paperwork burden.
• FEMA must provide clear, understandable notices to disaster survivors, ending the confusion caused by complex and jargon-filled denial letters.
• It directs the FEMA Administrator to apply practical, survivor-focused solutions that both speed assistance to disaster victims and reduce overall costs to taxpayers.
• The FEMA Act of 2025 removes disincentives that have discouraged donations from charities, religious organizations, and the public, ensuring more non-federal support is available for disaster survivors.
• States are given more flexibility to determine the best emergency housing solution for a particular disaster. 

The FEMA Act of 2025 strengthens efforts to protect communities before a disaster occurs.

• The FEMA Act 2025 overhauls FEMA’s existing mitigation framework to accelerate project timelines, reduce long-term disaster costs, and ensure greater coordination across federal funding streams, so states can more effectively leverage resources.
• States can pre-vet mitigation projects through a peer-review process to speed up funding when disaster strikes and combine funds from federal programs to expedite the completion of critical projects.
• The FEMA Act of 2025 clarifies building code requirements, ensuring states retain the flexibility to tailor standards to the hazards they face.
• The legislation also supports homeowners as they invest in cost-effective mitigation improvements, reducing long-term disaster costs. 

The FEMA Act of 2025 prevents the politicization of disaster aid and demands greater transparency and accountability from FEMA.

• The FEMA Act of 2025 strictly prohibits any political discrimination in providing disaster recovery assistance. It directs the Office of Management and Budget to establish a centralized public website that tracks disaster assistance funding across the federal government.
• The bill mandates a full Government Accountability Office review of all FEMA regulations and policies to eliminate outdated, conflicting, and unnecessary rules.
• It also requires an assessment of identity theft and disaster fraud risks, and directs reviews related to insurance coverage, the effectiveness of public alerting systems, and cost savings associated with the reforms in the discussion draft.

 

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Lloyd Smucker (PA-16)

WASHINGTON — Reps. Lloyd Smucker (PA-11), Mike Kelly (PA-16), and 18 other members of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee sent a letter to Internal Revenue Services (IRS) Commissioner Billy Long urging its reconsideration of Revenue Ruling 2024-14, unsupported Biden-era guidance that has created unnecessary confusion for taxpayers and threatens enforcement actions by drawing into question routine business transactions. 

Revenue Ruling 2024-14 was announced last year as part of a broader effort by the Biden Administration to crack down on partnership “basis-shifting” transactions. Specifically, the ruling broadly applies the economic substance doctrine, an enforcement tool to combat tax avoidance and ensure that transactions are driven by legitimate business purposes, rather than simply reducing tax liability. By extending the scope of this enforcement tool beyond past precedent, the IRS overreached and cast doubt over the legality of routine partnership transactions.

“American taxpayers and businesses deserve clear and consistent tax rules that allow them to confidently comply with the law,” said Rep. Lloyd Smucker (PA-11). “Reconsidering this relic of the Biden administration’s IRS would remove a contradictory compliance burden and help instill a more predictable tax code. The Trump administration has secured historic tax reforms for the American people. We are hopeful that it will remain committed to restoring fairness. We respectfully urge the IRS to rescind this Biden-era regulation, eliminate uncertainty, and restore greater trust in the American tax code.”

“Main street businesses are the backbone of our communities. They should be able to focus on providing quality services to American families and not worry about being targeted by the heavy-handed IRS. I am proud to lead this letter voicing our concerns alongside my Pennsylvania colleague Rep. Smucker and our fellow Ways and Means Committee Republicans,” Rep. Kelly said. “I look forward to working with IRS Commissioner Long and the Trump Administration as we look to overturn these political weaponization tools against small businesses enacted under the Biden regime.”

“[T]he ruling assumes that related-party transactions inherently lack a legitimate business purpose,” the letter reads. “This assumption is at odds with long-established tax law and the reality of how businesses operate. Related-party transactions are routine in a variety of industries, including manufacturing, investment, and distribution, and are governed by provisions such as section 482 that are specifically designed to ensure fair treatment while recognizing their legitimacy.

“We believe that withdrawing Revenue Ruling 2024-14 and rejecting its flawed legal analysis would be an important next step toward restoring clarity and consistency in the tax code.

“We appreciate the current administration’s steps to improve tax regulation, including the recent withdrawal of REG-124593-23, which would have designated related-party basis adjustments as “transactions of interest.”

Read the full letter HERE. 

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Haley Stevens (MI-11)

Michigan Congresswoman Haley Stevens’ Bill – The No Chinese Cars Act Closes The Door On Unfair Competition.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – With growing concern that China’s use of unfair trade practices and cheating of the system could allow them to take over the U.S. auto market, Michigan Congresswoman Haley Stevens introduced the No Chinese Cars Act a smarter tariff approach targeting bad actors.China’s use of unfair subsidies and exploitation of low wage workers have been deemed as an “existential threat” undermining American companies and Michigan jobs. 

Here’s what Michiganders are hearing about the problem. 

 

Detroit News – Some fear Chinese automakers’ playbook is existential threat to U.S. auto industry

By: Breana Noble

• “Aggressive component-sharing efforts have contributed to lower cost structures at many Chinese automakers, and there’s an increasing push for Western automakers to catch up.”

• “The effort has contributed to lower-cost and technologically advanced vehicles from China that people like Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley have called an existential threat to the U.S. auto industry.”

• “And even in these discussions, Chinese competitors are participating as they look to expand into the U.S. market, [Christian Thiele, SAE’s senior director of ground vehicle standards] said. ‘You may not get a complete vehicle on four wheels from BYD next week,’ he said, ‘but eventually that will happen.’”
   

Daily Mail – America sleepwalking toward car-making catastrophe… auto analysts reveal killer blow for Detroit

By:Ben Shimkus 

• “Chinese automakers are building cars for the entire world at a massive scale. Their vehicles, built with subsidies from their government, are faster to produce, cheaper to assemble and more technologically advanced than most American cars, experts warned the Daily Mail.” 

• “Meanwhile, American companies and lawmakers are pulling back investments and regulations that kept their vehicles competitive. Experts are warning that these changes will badly hurt the US automotive sector’s global competitiveness.”

• “​​American automakers have warned that they’re spending billions of dollars on tariffs as they attempt to make globally competitive cars. GM, the parent company of Chevy, said it expects to shell out between $4 billion and $5 billion in tariff costs by the end of 2025.”

• “The foreign assembly makes the entire car eligible for Trump’s 25% automotive tariffs, and threatens its low starting price.” 

• “But while the US fights with its own pricing issues, Chinese manufacturers are fine-tuning their cars.”  

 

Axios – Chinese cars are the ones to beat

By: Joann Muller 

• “There’s a dawning realization across the industry that China’s ascendance is both an existential business threat and a national security risk.”

• “The Detroit Three (GM, Ford and Stellantis) used to think of China as their playscape — a land of endless growth and profits. Not anymore,” China auto expert Michael Dunne, CEO of Dunne Insights, tells Axios.”

• “Tesla CEO Elon Musk warned Chinese carmakers as so good they ‘will pretty much demolish’ the rest of the industry.”

New York Post – China car giant BYD poses major threat to Tesla and Detroit’s Big 3 — and tariffs could make it worse

By: Thomas Barrabi

• “As the words came out of Trump’s mouth, they were probably drinking champagne in BYD headquarters,” [Wedbush analyst Dan Ives] told The Post. “It accelerates BYD’s success.”

• “BYD’s low prices are particularly concerning to the Big 3 – Ford, GM and Stellantis – because they have increasingly leaned on high-margin vehicles like gas-powered SUVs and pickup trucks to drive profits while veering away from smaller cars that were seen as unprofitable.”

 

The Drive – Three-Quarters of US Auto Execs Think Chinese Cars Will Be Sold Here

By:Byron Hurd 

• “According to a recent survey of more than 100 U.S. automotive executives,it’s not a matter of whether Chinese automakers will enter the U.S. market but when.”

• “We’re not talking about a slim margin of worrywarts, here, either. Of the bosses who responded to Kerrigan Advisors’ 2025 OEM Survey, more than three-fourths (76 percent) said they believed Chinese cars would eventually enter the U.S. market. And separately, 70 percent of respondents said they were concerned about the financial impact of China’s growing dominance in the global automotive market.”
   

WPBN – Governor Whitmer warns of Chinese threat to Michigan auto jobs at Detroit Auto Show

By: Marc Schollet

• “‘Make no mistake, other states and nations like China are gunning for Michigan auto jobs,’ Governor Gretchen Whitmer said at the Detroit Auto Show. ‘For America to win, we must all recognize that all of us are on the same team.’”

• “The governor seeing China as a threat to one of Michigan’s valuable auto industry, one that directly or indirectly affects the employment of a fifth of all Michigan workers. ‘This is a matter of national security,’ Whitmer said. ‘We cannot let that happen.’”

• “But Senator Gary Peters believes some Chinese imports also put our national security at risk. ‘Chinese Communist Party-backed companies want to flood the U.S. and global marketplace with artificially cheap vehicles that are capable of stealing Americans’ personal data,’ Peters said.”

 

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