The focus on executive orders issued by the current president has pulled attention away from activity in Congress. The 115th Congress has been busy, introducing wide-ranging legislation intended to radically change current laws on health care, the environment, financial regulations, immigration, and international affairs. As of Feb. 12, 2017, 1,340 bills have been introduced, 927 by Republicans, 510 by Democrats, and 3 by independents.
The progress of legislation can be tracked for free using Congress.gov. Search current legislation with keywords, or track the progress of a specific bill. (There are more advanced search tools available as well.) For instance, searching “affordable care act” retrieves 46 bills and 2 resolutions. Filters are available on the left to refine your search by subject, chamber, sponsor, committee, party, etc.
Some of the current bills having an impact on health care include:
A summary of the bill is provided, along with the text, actions, amendments, cosponsors, committees and related bills. The Tracker provides a quick visual representation of the bill’s journey through the legislative process. To track this bill and receive email updates, create a free account and log in, then click the Get Alerts link.
Searching current legislation for “Environmental Protection Agency” retrieves 32 bills and resolutions, including this one
A number of bills have been introduced to protect the rights of immigrants and refugees, including
Bills have been introduced to facilitate the building of the wall between the U.S. and Mexico:
Other bills have been introduced to repeal the federal estate tax
And to terminate the membership of the United States in the United Nations
Bills can be tracked by the Congressional sponsor. Legislation sponsored or co-sponsored by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand includes
None of the bills introduced in the 115th Congress have been signed into law—most have just been introduced, and some have been sent to committee. Congress.gov helps you to stay current on legislation and keep informed about what Congress is doing.
To see legislation introduced in the current Congress, click the topic listed below: