Analysis ยท October 21, 2026
Every bill that became law, by subject
126 bills and joint resolutions sponsored by current members have become law in the 119th Congress. Here is what they cover, from spending and regulation to land transfers and medals.
Thousands of bills are introduced in every Congress and only a small fraction become law. In the 119th Congress, 126 bills and joint resolutions sponsored by current members have been signed into law so far: 80 that started in the House and 46 that started in the Senate. This article sorts them by subject so you can see what Congress has actually enacted, not just what it has debated.
A note on how this list is built: Congress Report Card reads each bill's latest action from Congress.gov and counts it as law when that action says it became public or private law or was signed by the President. Bills whose sponsor has since left Congress are not included, because the site tracks current members. The count can shift slightly as Congress.gov updates its records.
Spending and the budget
The biggest laws of any Congress are usually the ones that pay for the government, and this Congress is no exception. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, is the sponsor of five laws, all of them spending bills: the full-year continuing resolution for 2025, a continuing resolution in the fall of 2025, a bill combining three of the regular appropriations bills, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, and a further continuing resolution that included Homeland Security funding. Jason Smith of Missouri sponsored the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027, which, as its title says, extended funding into fiscal year 2027.
Two other budget laws were major events of the Congress. HR 1, sponsored by Jodey C. Arrington of Texas, chairman of the House Budget Committee, was the budget reconciliation bill passed in 2025. Reconciliation is a special process that lets certain tax and spending legislation pass the Senate by a simple majority, without the 60 votes usually needed to end debate. The Rescissions Act of 2025 (HR 4), sponsored by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, cancelled funding Congress had previously approved; it is the only bill Scalise has sponsored this Congress, and it became law.
Overturning federal regulations
The largest single group of new laws is 24 joint resolutions of disapproval. Twenty-three of them used the Congressional Review Act to cancel regulations issued by federal agencies, many of them finalized near the end of the previous administration. The targets include Bureau of Land Management resource management plans in Alaska, Montana and North Dakota, Department of Energy appliance efficiency standards, Environmental Protection Agency rules including the waivers that let California set its own vehicle emissions standards, an IRS rule on reporting by decentralized crypto exchanges, and two Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rules on overdraft fees and large digital payment apps. The 24th resolution overturned a District of Columbia Council tax law, using Congress's separate power to review laws passed by the District. How the Congressional Review Act works explains the process in detail.
Public safety and crime
The first law of the Congress was the Laken Riley Act (S 5), sponsored by Katie Boyd Britt of Alabama, which requires immigration authorities to detain certain non-citizens charged with theft or violent crimes. The HALT Fentanyl Act (S 331), sponsored by Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, permanently placed fentanyl-related substances in the strictest category of controlled drugs. Other laws in this area include the Prison Staff Safety Enhancement Act from Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, the Trafficking Survivors Relief Act from Russell Fry of South Carolina, and the Enhancing Detection of Human Trafficking Act from Tim Walberg of Michigan.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act (HR 4405), sponsored by Ro Khanna of California, required the Justice Department to release its files related to Jeffrey Epstein. It drew unusual attention because it reached the floor through a discharge petition, a rarely successful process that lets a majority of House members force a vote over the objection of leadership.
Finance and technology
The GENIUS Act (S 1582), sponsored by Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, created the first federal framework for stablecoins, digital currencies tied to the dollar. Other financial laws include the Bankruptcy Administration Improvement Act from Christopher A. Coons of Delaware, the Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act from John W. Rose of Tennessee, and the Romance Scam Prevention Act from David G. Valadao of California. Two separate bills, one from Tom Cotton of Arkansas and one from Austin Scott of Georgia, extended the foreign surveillance authorities in section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Veterans and the military
About a dozen new laws deal with veterans and service members. They include the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act and a VA medical facility authorization from Jerry Moran of Kansas, the VA Home Loan Program Reform Act and a GI Bill tuition fix from Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin, the Disabled Veterans Housing Support Act from Monica De La Cruz of Texas, and the Fairness for Servicemembers and their Families Act from Marilyn Strickland of Washington. Five laws concern the Medal of Honor, including three that authorize the medal for specific service members. Congress has to approve those awards when the normal time limits have passed.
Land, water and tribal lands
More than a dozen of the laws concern specific pieces of land: transfers, boundary changes, conveyances and park designations. These bills are often small and local, but they are also the bills most likely to pass, because they usually affect a single district and draw little opposition. Nicholas J. Begich III, Alaska's only House member, sponsored seven laws this Congress, more than any other member. Five of them deal with Alaska Native land and settlement issues, and two are regulatory disapproval resolutions. Other examples include the Chiricahua National Park Act from Juan Ciscomani of Arizona, the Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement Amendments from Steve Daines of Montana and the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe Project Lands Restoration Act from Emily Randall of Washington.
Who sponsored the laws
The sponsors are overwhelmingly Republicans: 112 of the 126 laws, compared with 14 from Democrats. That is not unusual. The majority party controls which bills reach the floor in both chambers, and the committees that move bills are chaired by majority members. When control of Congress changes, the pattern typically flips. Democrats and Republicans compared looks at this in more detail.
Only 65 of the 433 voting House members and 32 of the 100 senators have sponsored a bill that became law in this Congress. For most members the bills they write serve other purposes: staking out a position, starting a debate, or providing language that is later folded into a larger bill under someone else's name. That last point matters. When a bill becomes law as part of a larger package, the credit goes to the package's sponsor, so a member's law count understates how much of their work was enacted.
Every member's report card lists the bills they sponsored that advanced past introduction, with links to the full text and history on Congress.gov.
Figures are from the Congress Report Card data as of October 21, 2026. Grades change as Congress votes, so the numbers on member pages may have moved since. How grades are calculated.