CONGRESS

The House passed S.222, the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025. The bill will now proceed to the President to be signed into law.

The Senate voted 53 to 43 to confirm 97 subcabinet nominations, including Henry Mack as the Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training at the U.S. Department of Labor and Mary Anne Carter as the Chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Senate and House completed their legislative activity for 2025 and will reconvene for legislative business on January 5 and 6, respectively.

ADMINISTRATION

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced that more than 5 million 2026–27 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms have been submitted, citing this as a 150 percent increase in the number of applications submitted at this time last year.

The U.S. Department of Justice issued a memorandum opinion on the constitutionality of race-based ED programs. U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon released a related statement.

COURTS

A district court judge granted a motion for a preliminary injunction, enjoining further reductions-in-force (RIFs) by the Administration and requiring the RIF notices for the employees who were terminated between October 1, 2025 and November 12, 2025 to be rescinded. This order follows actions by the Office of Management and Budget that the judge has found in violation of the previous injunction issued by the court.