Tabitha Walter, Executive Director • tabitha@eagleforum.org • (202) 341-5737
Overview
In 2025, Eagle Forum had the pleasure of working closely with Members of the House and Senate as well as officials in the Trump administration. This was a year with many victories on the pro-family front. We scored 30 bills — all passing in one or both chambers. We also endorsed many bills that were either placed in larger bills or were unable to move forward. Leaders in both chambers and the White House kept an open line of communication with us even in moments of disagreement. We were happy to help our country get back on track — one policy change at a time.
The beginning of the first session of the 119th Congress began with a shift of power in the Senate with Republicans gaining the majority with 53 Members. The GOP maintained its majority in the House with 220 Members, one less than the previous Congress. These slim majorities in both chambers made the passage of legislation challenging, but not impossible.
The year began with Sen. John Thune (R-SD) being elected as the new Senate Majority Leader, replacing Sen. Mitch McConnell who served as the Senate Republican leader since 2007. Sen. Thune’s first major accomplishment was directing the Senate to confirm President Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees in record time. He and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) worked together to pass key legislation such as the Laken Riley Act, the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026, the President’s rescissions package, and the continuing resolutions to keep the government open during the government shutdown in the fall.
Many of the bills Eagle Forum supported and scored originated in the House. Speaker Johnson was successful in uniting the GOP caucus. He worked diligently to ensure the House did not compromise to the Left’s ideals and personally advocated for strong pro-family initiatives. Under his leadership, the House passed bills to codify 70 of the President’s executive orders. He was able to stave off attempts to force votes on proxy voting and extending the COVID-era Obamacare subsidies.
Life
Life was protected in many key legislative priorities. In January, during the March for Life, the House voted on the Born-Alive Abortions Survivors Protection Act (H.R. 21), which requires medical professionals to administer life-saving care to babies born alive during an abortion procedure. This passed the House 217-204, but failed to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to invoke cloture in the Senate.
During the reconciliation process, also known as the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1), the House placed a provision that would prohibit the federal funding of abortions through abortion giants such as Planned Parenthood. Due to Senate restrictions, the moratorium was shortened to one year. Although Eagle Forum wants a permanent ban, this was a great victory as it is the first time Republicans have been successful in defunding Planned Parenthood.
Eagle Forum worked with the Trump administration and Congress to weaken policies on the unethical practices of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and artificial reproductive technology (ART). Even though the Trump administration announced an expansion of IVF, they also opened the door for other methods to be covered by insurance such as restorative reproductive methods (RRM) that are more successful and less costly than IVF. Additionally, Speaker Johnson stripped out a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would have expanded IVF. The current law only allows funding of IVF for military servicemen who have been harmed in the line of duty.
Protecting Women and Children
One of the President’s first presidential actions was to mandate that in his administration, only two sexes would be recognized — male and female. He also took executive action to ensure that schools receiving federal funds would prohibit biological males from playing in female sports. Eagle Forum’s Washington, D.C. office attended the signing of this executive order. Both of these actions set the tone for Congress to move to protect female sports, ban men from women’s private spaces, and defund “gender transition” surgeries.
One of the first bills the House passed this year was the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act (H.R. 28) which requires all federally funded education programs, including K-12 public schools and universities, to ensure that students play the sport that coincides with their biological sex. This followed an executive order signed by the President doing the same. The bill passed in the House 218-206, but failed in the Senate on a procedural vote.
The House ended the year by passing additional protections for vulnerable children. Republicans with a handful of Democrats, passed two bills that place heavy restrictions on “gender transition” procedures on minors. The Protect Children’s Innocence Act (H.R. 3492) makes these types of procedures a federal crime and includes penalties of up to ten years imprisonment and/or fines for those who perform such operations. Afterward, they took a vote on the Do No Harm in Medicaid Act (H.R. 498) which stops all federal funding of these procedures through the Medicaid program and will defund hospitals that allow the surgeries to be performed. This language was included in the One Big, Beautiful Bill for ten years, but this bill would codify the policy permanently. H.R. 3492 passed with a vote of 216-211, and H.R. 498 passed with a vote of 215-201.
Immigration and Border Security
Protecting our borders was a top priority for both the Trump administration and Congress. The first bill signed into law was the Laken Riley Act (H.R. 29), which allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain illegal immigrants who commit crimes related to theft. The bill was named after a 22-year-old nursing student in Georgia who was murdered by an illegal alien who had been arrested for property crimes that did not trigger immediate deportation. Eagle Forum’s Washington, D.C. office was honored to attend the President’s signing of the bill at the White House.
The House of Representatives passed additional bills to crack down on violence from illegal immigrants. First, the Preventing Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act (H.R. 30) prohibits immigrants from crossing our borders if they have previous convictions of abuse against children and other sexual offenses. The bill passed with significant bipartisanship with a vote of 274-145. Next, the House passed by 226-197 the Stop Illegal Entry Act “Kate’s Law” (H.R. 3486) to increase criminal penalties for first and repeat offenses involving crossing the border illegally… Additionally, the Kayla Hamilton Act (H.R. 4371) places more restrictions on unaccompanied teenage minors who may have gang markings or a history of criminal conduct, and was passed by 225-201 votes.
Congress honored three Americans who were killed by illegal immigrants who were driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol. The Jeremy and Angel Seay and Sergeant Brandon Mendoza Protect Our Communities from DUIs Act (H.R. 875) makes DUIs a deportable offense. This passed 246-160. This bill, as well as the ones above, await consideration and passage by the Senate.
Congress worked to weaken foreign interference in our elections as well. The SAVE Act (H.R. 22) would require states to purge voter rolls of illegally registered non-U.S. citizens as well as putting teeth to the current laws that are supposed to prevent this from happening. This passed 220-208.
Congress exercised its Constitutional authority over the District of Columbia to restrict illegal activity in the nation’s capital. The House passed a bill prohibiting noncitizens from voting in District of Columbia elections (H.R. 884). The city of Washington, D.C. currently gives noncitizens that ability. They also passed the District of Columbia Federal Immigration Compliance Act (H.R. 2056) to prohibit D.C. officials from passing laws that would contradict federal immigration laws. H.R. 884 passed 266-148 and H.R. 2056 passed 224-194 – both with bipartisan support.
Government Spending
With our nation’s debt currently over $38 trillion, it is imperative that federal government spending needs to change. At the beginning of the year, President Trump created the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to comb through all agency spending and recommend cuts. This led to uncovering corruption and waste, downsizing the number of federal employees, shutting down the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and calling for the elimination of the Department of Education. Congress has been working to codify many of these DOGE recommendations.
One of the biggest accomplishments of 2025 was the passage of the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1) — also known as the Working Families Tax Cut Act. Congress used the reconciliation process that allows it to adjust mandatory spending streams to pass the bill in the Senate with a simple majority (51 votes) instead of the standard 60 votes. The Senate’s restrictions on what could and could not be included (known as the Byrd Rule) made the completion more challenging. After much hard work, the bill passed the House 215-214 and passed the Senate by a vote of 51-50. Some of the policy wins included a one-year moratorium on funding for Planned Parenthood, eliminating Medicare fraud and benefits to illegal immigrants, implementing work requirements for SNAP beneficiaries, banning federal payments for gender mutilation of minors, increasing the Child Tax Credit, eliminating the “death tax,” and more.
Congress did not stop there, though. The House and Senate worked together to pass a rescissions package proposed by the White House. This bill clawed back money that was wastefully spent by USAID, shut down diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs throughout the federal government, stopped payments to the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR), and cut funds going to the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations (UN). The Rescissions Act (H.R. 4) passed the House 214-212 and the Senate 51-48.
Near the end of the year, the COVID-era Obamacare subsidies were set to expire on December 31st. These subsidies helped fund insurance plans on the exchange that covered abortions, “gender transition” procedures, and benefits for illegal aliens, in addition to hiding the true costs of the failing “Affordable Care Act.” Eagle Forum encouraged Members to oppose any extension of these subsidies that allow insurance companies to increase premiums for everyone in the market. Democrats forced a government shutdown over this issue when they refused to move forward with a Continuing Resolution in the Senate to keep the government open while Congress worked on finishing the spending bills for FY 2026. After the longest government shutdown in history, Democrats caved with the promise of a future vote on extending the subsidies. Eagle Forum will continue to oppose this measure that hides the true cost of Obamacare and enriches insurance companies at the expense of all Americans.
Education
As the Trump administration worked this year to wind down the Department of Education, Congress passed bills to protect the integrity of funding going to school systems. One of those ways was preventing foreign influence over K-12 schools, as well as colleges and universities. In December, the House passed the Combating the Lies of Authoritarians in School Systems Act (H.R. 1005), PROTECT Our Kids Act (H.R. 1069), and Transparency in Reporting of Adversarial Contributions to Education Act (H.R. 1049). These bills prohibit Chinese influence through Confucius classrooms and partnerships with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). They also require parents to be notified if the school curriculum is funded or created with foreign money. H.R. 1005 passed by a vote of 242-176, H.R. 1069 passed by a vote of 247-164, and H.R. 1049 passed by a vote of 247-166.
Deregulation of the Federal Government
One of President Trump’s campaign promises was to scale back the Administrative State. For every regulation he proposed, he committed to cutting ten regulations already on the books. By the end of 2025, his administration completed 646 deregulatory actions and finalized only 5 regulations — a ratio of 129 to 1! The Office of Management and Budget estimates that this saved U.S. taxpayers $211.8 billion.
Some of the regulations that were repealed include Biden-era restrictions on gas water heaters, light bulbs, dishwashers, shower heads, electric vehicles, and natural gas. Eagle Forum supported two Congressional actions to codify these changes. The Congressional disapproval of Biden administration’s gas water heater rule (H.J. Res. 20) passed the House by a vote of 221-198 and the Senate by 53-44. The Congressional disapproval of Biden administration’s natural gas rule (H.J. Res. 35) passed the House by a vote of 220-206 and the Senate 52-47. Eagle Forum supported other deregulatory actions in the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act and other appropriations bills.
Combating Crime in U.S. Cities
Crime in cities around the nation harms so many aspects of life, including driving out businesses, hurting travel, and putting Americans at risk. This is why the Trump administration and Congress took action to make our streets safer. For example, they exercised their Constitutional authority over D.C. to restore law and order to our Nation’s Capital, making it a safer place to work and visit.
The D.C. Criminal Reforms to Immediately Make Everyone Safe Act (H.R. 4922) lowered the age to be tried as an adult from 25 to 18 years old. It passed the House by 240-179. The House passed another bill to amend D.C. law to allow for police to engage in vehicular pursuit. This legislation, the District of Columbia Policing Protection Act (H.R. 5143) passed by 245-182.
Additionally, the District of Columbia Judicial Nominations Reform Act (H.R. 5125) terminates the District of Columbia (D.C.) Judicial Nomination Commission and instead gives the President the right to appoint these judges with the advice and consent of the Senate. For too long, D.C. judges have been lax in their prosecution of crimes, and accountability is needed. The bill passed the House by a vote of 218-211.
United States Military
Eagle Forum was pleased with the National Defense Authorization Act (S. 1071), both for provisions included and those that were thankfully not part of the law. Despite past attempts, the NDAA did not include any language requiring young women to register for the Selective Service or force them into combat roles. The current policy on in-vitro fertilization (IVF) was not expanded to additional family members or for other reproductive technologies that are unethical in practice. The NDAA fully funds the National Guard at our Southern Border and cuts all DEI programs. While not perfect, this bill is a step forward in restoring integrity and strength to our great U.S. military.
Earlier this year, the House worked on the Department of Defense Appropriations Act (H.R. 4016) and Military Constructions and Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, and Legislative Branch Appropriations Act (H.R. 3944). Both bills cut out funding for DEI and critical race theory (CRT) programs as well as prohibit gender mutilation procedures on minors. After reports of drag shows on military bases, the DOD bill included a provision to ban these ridiculous activities. The MilConVA bill retained the Hyde amendment to ensure that no federal funds would pay for abortions. It also included a reinstatement of officers who were discharged for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine. The DOD appropriations bill passed the House 221-209 and was included with minor changes in the Senate-passed continuing resolution package. The MilConVA appropriations bill passed the House by a vote of 218-206 and is awaiting final passage in the Senate.
Marijuana
Eagle Forum supported Representative Mary Miller’s (R-IL) provision in the Farm Bill to prohibit the harvesting of hemp to produce THC products. This provision was threatened in the Senate when Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) was granted a vote on his amendment to strip this policy out. Thankfully, his efforts were unsuccessful, and Rep. Miller’s policy became law.
Even though the President signed the hemp regulation into law, he took the opposite approach to marijuana rescheduling. In December, he issued an executive order requesting that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reschedule pot from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug. Eagle Forum’s Washington, D.C. office and grassroots activists had meetings and communicated with administrative officials to express opposition before the announcement. We will continue to do so in 2026 as the FDA works through the rescheduling process.
American Sovereignty
In January, the President issued an Executive Order withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO). Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. also announced later in the year that HHS would no longer participate in the WHO’s regulations on digital identification, censorship, and vaccine recommendations. The House defunded US contributions to the WHO in the rescissions package severing ties for now. Eagle Forum has been working to accomplish this goal for many years, and we are happy to see this progress to strengthen our national sovereignty.
Comprehensive List of Scored Legislation
