Congress Weekly — Two Public Laws, Iran War Powers Queued, Election & Tariff Bills Advance

This Week's Headline

Two public lands measures cleared the President's desk, House committees moved a trio of election, antitrust, and spending-transparency bills out at lopsided margins, and a Senate war powers resolution on Iran landed on the calendar as tensions with Tehran sharpen the legislative week ahead.

Passed / Enacted

• H.R. 2815, the Cape Fox Land Entitlement Finalization Act, became Public Law 119-93 on May 19, completing a multi-year effort to settle Alaska Native land claims for the Cape Fox Corporation; the Senate companion S. 1008 had been parked on the Senate calendar since March 2025.
• H.R. 972, the Sloan Canyon Conservation and Lateral Pipeline Act, became Public Law 119-91 the same day, authorizing a water pipeline corridor through the Nevada conservation area; Senate companion S. 392 sat in Energy and Natural Resources.

Marked Up

• H.R. 3535, the Stop Foreign Funds in Elections Act, was ordered reported 11–0, sending to the floor a bipartisan bid to tighten prohibitions on foreign-national contributions to U.S. campaigns and ballot initiatives — a perennial sore spot after recent state-level referendum fights.
• H.R. 8285, the Protecting American Competition Act of 2026, cleared committee 44–0, an unusually unanimous vote on antitrust-adjacent legislation that signals broad agreement on at least the bill's narrower competition provisions.
• H.R. 2069, the Stop Secret Spending Act of 2025, was ordered reported as amended 40–0, advancing new disclosure requirements on covert or unreported federal expenditures.
• S. 2666, the Foreign Robocall Elimination Act, was favorably reported by Senate Commerce with a substitute amendment, targeting overseas-originated illegal robocall traffic that has frustrated FCC enforcement.

Floor-Ready and Pending

• S.J.Res. 185 was placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar (No. 415) on May 19, directing the removal of U.S. Armed Forces from unauthorized hostilities "within or against" Iran — a War Powers Resolution vehicle that will force a recorded Senate vote on any expanding Iran operations.
• S.J.Res. 182, a CRA disapproval of the Department of Education's Direct Loan rule, failed on a motion to proceed via voice vote on May 20, leaving the administration's student loan regulation intact for now.
• S. 2236, the YALI Act of 2026, sits on the Senate calendar (No. 324) and would codify the Young African Leaders Initiative, a State Department program that has drawn skepticism in some appropriations quarters.
• S. 3966, TREY'S Law, was held at the desk on May 20, bypassing committee — a procedural move that typically presages a unanimous-consent push or hotline.
• S. 277 (Chester County, Tennessee mineral interests reversion) remains on the Senate calendar (No. 207) awaiting floor time.

Introduced / Referred

Trade policy drew the bulk of new referrals to House Ways and Means:

• H.R. 7276 would impose a 30 percent duty on sheep and lamb products from Australia and New Zealand, a targeted protectionist measure aimed at the domestic sheep industry that, if advanced, would test FTA obligations with both partners.
• H.R. 4962, the Toll of Tariffs Act of 2025, runs the other direction — a Ways and Means referral aimed at quantifying and constraining the consumer cost of recent tariff actions.

Other notable referrals still awaiting committee action:

• S. 4459, the Expanding Appalachia's Broadband Access Act, was referred to Senate Environment and Public Works on April 30 — an unusual committee of jurisdiction suggesting the bill is structured around infrastructure permitting rather than FCC programs.
• S. 2022, the Tribal Tax and Investment Reform Act of 2025, remains in Senate Finance, packaging long-pending parity fixes for tribal governments under the Internal Revenue Code.
• S. 2456, the Promoting Rural Exports Act of 2025, sits in Senate Banking and would expand Ex-Im Bank tools for rural exporters.
• H.R. 3573, the Stop TRUMP in Crypto Act of 2025, was referred to House Financial Services and targets presidential and family-member financial interests in digital assets; the bill is unlikely to move in the current House but flags an issue Democrats are building a record on.
• H.R. 4435, the Cosmetic Hazardous Ingredient Right to Know Act of 2025, was referred to House Energy and Commerce, proposing ingredient-disclosure requirements layered atop the 2022 MoCRA framework.

What to Watch Next Week

The Iran war powers resolution (S.J.Res. 185) is the most consequential calendar item; a forced vote could come at any time under expedited War Powers procedures. The three unanimous House markups (H.R. 3535, H.R. 8285, H.R. 2069) are strong candidates for suspension-calendar floor action.