Articles Posted in Legislative Information

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Overview of the CBO Report

Congressional Budget Office — Immigrant Earnings Assimilation, 1981–2021 (Report No. 62202, March 2026)

The report analyzes how immigrants’ earnings evolve after arriving in the United States and how closely their wages eventually approach those of U.S. born workers. Using several decades of census and survey data, the CBO examines the economic process known as “earnings assimilation”, the extent to which immigrants’ wages increase with time spent in the U.S. labor market.

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A Report from the Congressional Budget Office, January 30, 2026.

The House Committee on the Budget convened a hearing at which Phillip L. Swagel, CBO’s Director, testified about the agency’s work. This document provides CBO’s answers to questions submitted for the record after the hearing.

SUMMARY:

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From the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), July 18, 2025.

CBO was asked to assess the effects of a permanent 10 percent reduction in NIH funding and a nine-month increase in FDA review times of new drug applications.

SUMMARY STATEMENT:

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On July 4, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed into law H.R. 1, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted as Pub. L. No. 119–21, 139 Stat. ___ (2025). Passed through the budget reconciliation process under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this comprehensive legislation represents a central pillar of the Trump administration’s second-term domestic agenda. It enacts sweeping reforms to the federal tax code, restructures discretionary and entitlement spending. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act does not suspend the debt ceiling through FY 2027. Instead, it raises the debt limit by a specific $5 trillion—an amount projected to sustain federal borrowing for roughly one to two years [i.e., until 2026–27, depending on fiscal trends].

Legislative History and Process

H.R. 1 advanced through Congress under budget reconciliation procedures, thereby circumventing the Senate filibuster and requiring only a simple majority for passage. This expedited pathway allowed the bill’s tax and spending provisions to be consolidated into a single legislative package and enacted swiftly along party lines.

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Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Cost Estimate July 9, 2025.

In the context of the US Congress, SOPRA refers to the Separation of Powers Restoration Act. It’s a legislative proposal aimed at amending the Administrative Procedure Act to change how courts review agency actions. Specifically, SOPRA seeks to eliminate the practice of “Chevron deference,” where courts defer to an agency’s interpretation of a law if it’s deemed reasonable, and instead require courts to review legal questions de novo, meaning without deference to the agency’s interpretation. 

COST ESTIMATE LETTER JULY 9 2025

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Report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO): July 9, 2025.

The federal budget deficit totaled $1.3 trillion in the first nine months of fiscal year 2025, CBO estimates. That amount is $65 billion more than the deficit recorded during the same period last fiscal year.

SUMMARY:

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From the Congressional Budget Office. June 27, 2025.

SUMMARY:

CBO provides information regarding the agency’s analysis of an amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, as posted on the website of the Senate Committee on the Budget on June 27, 2025 (https://tinyurl.com/2ejs4ut5).

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The legislative branch of the United States government (embodied in Congress, which consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate) is the cornerstone of the federal lawmaking process and a central pillar of the constitutional system of checks and balances. Through its exclusive powers to enact laws, oversee the executive branch, and shape national policy, Congress functions within a broader framework of shared authority known as the separation of powers.

In this posting, we explore key questions surrounding the legislative process, followed by overviews of congressional powers beyond lawmaking, the practical operation of separation of powers, and the exercise of war powers in a divided government. Our goal is to provide material that will be useful to law and legislative librarians, the legal profession at large, and anyone whose work or civic responsibilities require engagement with these fundamental issues.

I. Lawmaking Authority

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From the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), June 12, 2025:*

OVERVIEW:

“This interactive tool illustrates the distributional effects of H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. It allows users to explore how H.R. 1, as passed by the House of Representatives on May 22, 2025, would affect the economic resources available to households grouped on the basis of their income. (See CBO’s estimate of the budgetary effects of the bill.)

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Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Report, June 5, 2025.

CBO estimates that debt-service costs under H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, would total $551 billion over the 2025–2034 period—increasing the bill’s cumulative effect on the deficit to $3.0 trillion.

Summary:

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