Government & Policy
Legislation, executive orders, regulatory changes, and government actions that directly impact personal finances, taxes, benefits, or the economy.
Latest in Government & Policy
A law Trump signed Sept. 11 extends the federal tax deduction for qualified disaster-related personal casualty losses to disasters that begin before 2027
Taxpayers who lose property in a federally declared disaster can deduct the loss without itemizing and without the 10% of income floor that normally blocks...
Trump Account money would have to sit in low-cost U.S. stock index funds under proposed IRS rules, with public comments due Oct. 20
Treasury and the IRS are taking public comments until October 20, 2026 on a proposal that would confine a child’s Trump Account to low-cost U.S....
OPM’s federal retirement claims backlog fell to 8,814 in September from 65,237 in February, and the average claim took 66 days
The Office of Personnel Management had 8,814 federal retirement claims waiting at the end of September, down from 65,237 in February, and the average claim...
The IRS estimates 148,498,585 Trump Account election responses at about two hours each, and comments on the forms are open until Dec. 7
The IRS says it expects 148,498,585 responses to its Trump Account election forms, at 2 hours and 5 minutes each, in a paperwork notice that...
Trump’s diesel order directs Treasury to let taxpayers put off the federal diesel tax incurred from Oct. 5 through Dec. 31 without penalties or interest, to the extent the law allows
President Trump’s Executive Order 14435 directs the Treasury secretary to let taxpayers put off federal diesel excise tax incurred from Oct. 5 through Dec. 31...
New mothers, especially in rural areas, are being provided newborn supply kits, including blood pressure monitors, under a new HHS program backed by a $5 million award
A new federal newborn kit program called NEST, launched by the Department of Health and Human Services on October 9, is backed by a $5...
The Trump FTC warned 24 of the largest health care companies that leaving physician or facility fees out of price quotes may be deceptive
The Federal Trade Commission told 24 of the nation’s largest health care companies on October 5 that a price quote can be deceptive when it...
Louisiana gets $37.7 million from the Trump administration to recruit doctors and nurses to rural towns, including $12.7 million in incentives from sign-on and retention bonuses to relocation assistance and professional training
Louisiana will put $37.7 million in federal rural health money toward training and recruiting health care workers, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)...
The Trump administration is sending Iowa $209 million to bring robotic surgery, cancer hubs and maternal telehealth to rural hospitals
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) said October 9 that Iowa’s rural health award of more than $209 million will pay for robotic-assisted...
VA awarded Optum Serve a 10-year contract worth up to $30 billion to run one national community dental network for veterans
The Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded Optum Serve a 10-year contract worth up to $30 billion to run a single national network of dentists...
A House bill would end SNAP restaurant meals for older, disabled and homeless recipients in nine states
A House bill introduced September 3 would abolish the SNAP Restaurant Meals Program, the state-run option that lets older, disabled and homeless food stamp recipients...
West Virginia flood victims in Lewis, Pleasants, Ritchie and Upshur counties now have until October 17 to apply for FEMA aid
Saturday, October 17, is now the last day for flood victims in four West Virginia counties to apply for FEMA disaster assistance, after FEMA approved...
Indiana disaster victims in 24 counties have until October 25 to seek FEMA aid
Indiana says FEMA has paid or set aside $125 million for storm victims and approved more than 30,000 applications, yet the window for new Individual...
More than 36,000 Marylanders have lost food stamps since November 2025, and the state now pays an added $43 million this year to run SNAP
More than 36,000 Marylanders have lost SNAP, the federal food aid program, since the work-rule changes that began in November 2025, WYPR reported on October...
Ballotpedia counts 40 states that set aside money as Trump’s 2025 law shifted more SNAP office costs onto them October 1, while Arkansas and New Hampshire did not
Forty states had fully or partially set aside money by September 30 for the larger share of SNAP office costs that fell to them on...
Alaska’s 2026 Permanent Fund Dividend is $1,200, including a $200 energy relief payment, with direct-deposit applicants scheduled October 1 and paper applicants October 22
Alaska’s 2026 Permanent Fund Dividend is $1,200 per eligible applicant, and $200 of that is labeled an energy relief payment. The state’s Permanent Fund Dividend...
A House-passed bill creating a federal fraud enforcement division awaits Senate action
The House passed the National Fraud Enforcement Division Act, H.R. 9576, by a vote of 352 to 72 on September 16, and the bill now...
A bill letting employee stock ownership plans rely on an independent appraiser’s valuation reached Trump’s desk on October 5 after a 401-14 House vote
Congress sent President Donald Trump a bill on October 5 that would let the trustees of employee stock ownership plans rely on an independent appraiser’s...
USDA is taking public comments on SNAP food-restriction requests from eight states, including Texas, Virginia, Ohio, Oklahoma and Missouri
Thursday, October 15 is the last day to tell USDA what it thinks of the SNAP purchase limits in eight states: Virginia, Texas, South Carolina,...
Health plans must give members personal cost estimates by phone for plan years starting on or after January 1, 2027, under a rule the Trump administration finalized October 5
Group health plans and insurers will have to give members personalized cost-sharing estimates over the phone, not just online or on paper, for plan years...