Marsha Blackburn

Keep SNAP Funded Act of 2025

This bill provides appropriations for the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide uninterrupted benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) during any period in which legislation has not been enacted to provide continuing or full-year FY2026 appropriations to USDA.

The bill also provides appropriations for retroactive payments for SNAP benefits that were missed on or after September 30, 2025, and before this bill is enacted.

The appropriations provided by this bill are available until legislation is enacted to provide FY2026 appropriations for USDA (including continuing appropriations).

Pay Our Military Act of 2025

This bill provides continuing appropriations for military pay for any period during which continuing or full-year appropriations for FY2026 are not in effect (i.e., a government shutdown).

Specifically, the bill provides FY2026 continuing appropriations for pay, allowances, and certain benefits for members of the Armed Forces, including reserve components, who perform active service during the period. The benefits funded by the bill include individual clothing, subsistence, interest on deposits, gratuities, permanent change of station travel, and monthly payments to surviving spouses who care for a child of a member or former member of the Armed Forces.

The bill also provides FY2026 continuing appropriations for

• pay and allowances for Department of Defense (DOD) civilian personnel (and Department of Homeland Security [DHS] personnel in the case of the Coast Guard) who are providing support to such members of the Armed Forces, and

• payments for DOD contractors (and DHS contractors in the case of the Coast Guard) who are providing support to the members of the Armed Forces.

A federal agency may not use funds provided by this bill during any period in which continuing appropriations are available for the same payments, allowances, and benefits that are funded by this bill.

If a government shutdown occurs, the bill provides the continuing appropriations until the earlier of (1) the enactment into law of specified appropriations legislation, or (2) September 30, 2026.

This resolution designates the week beginning on October 19, 2025, as National Character Counts Week.

Pay Our Military Act of 2025

This bill provides continuing appropriations for military pay for any period during which interim or full-year appropriations for FY2026 are not in effect (i.e., a government shutdown).

Specifically, the bill provides FY2026 continuing appropriations for the pay and allowances of (1) members of the Armed Forces, including reserve components, who perform active service during the period; and (2) civilian personnel and contractors of the Department of Defense (and the Department of Homeland Security in the case of the Coast Guard) who are providing support to such members of the Armed Forces.

If a government shutdown occurs, the bill provides the continuing appropriations until the earlier of (1) the enactment into law of specified appropriations legislation, or (2) January 1, 2027.

Conscience Protection Act of 2025

This bill explicitly prohibits penalizing health care entities (e.g., health care providers, insurers) for declining to participate in or facilitate abortion services. It also allows individuals to bring civil actions for violations of certain federal conscience laws, and it specifically authorizes Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) rulemaking and enforcement relating to such laws. (In general, the existing federal conscience laws referenced in the bill prohibit entities that receive federal funds from requiring providers or patients to participate in health care services they find religiously or morally objectionable.)

Specifically, the bill prohibits the federal government and entities receiving federal health-related funding (e.g., states) from penalizing health care entities that decline to provide, refer for, provide insurance coverage for, or facilitate abortions. The bill does not (1) affect federal requirements for providing emergency stabilizing treatment for pregnant women or unborn children, or (2) prevent health care entities from voluntarily participating in or providing coverage for abortions where not prohibited by law.

Also, the bill authorizes individuals or entities adversely affected by a violation of a federal conscience law to bring a civil action for relief, including against state governmental entities.

Additionally, the bill provides broad statutory authority for HHS to induce compliance with federal conscience laws by terminating HHS funding or referring violations to the Department of Justice for civil actions. It also explicitly authorizes HHS to issue regulations and resolve complaints under such laws. (HHS' Office for Civil Rights currently handles such complaints.)

Collision Avoidance Systems Act of 2025

This bill allows for the use of a pulsating light system for vehicle braking.

Specifically, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard Number 108 (Standard 108) must be deemed to allow for the use of a pulsating light system on covered vehicles (i.e., passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles, trucks, buses, trailers, and motorcycles). The Department of Transportation must issue regulations to update Standard 108 to (1) include performance-based standards for pulsating light systems, and (2) allow for the use of the systems on motor vehicles.

As background, Standard 108 regulates all automotive lighting, signaling, and reflective devices. Under the bill, a pulsating light system includes a system for a high-mounted stop lamp in which the lamp pulses rapidly no more than four times and for no more than 1.2 seconds when the brake of the vehicle is applied and then converts to a continuous light (as a normal stop lamp) until the brake is released.

District of Columbia Judicial Nominations Reform Act

This bill terminates the District of Columbia (DC) Judicial Nomination Commission.

Currently, the commission recommends to the President nominees for judges for DC's Superior Court and Court of Appeals, who must then be confirmed by the Senate. The commission also appoints the chief judges for these courts. The bill terminates the commission's involvement in nominations and requires the President to appoint the chief judges.