On Feb. 14, the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB’s) Acting General Counsel, William Cowen, rescinded two general counsel (GC) memos opining that virtually all non-compete and stay-or-pay agreements would violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). This action does not resolve all the non-compete agreement issues currently in play, but it does signal a shift in NLRB thinking on the issues.

On Feb. 26, the House Education & the Workforce Committee held a hearing focused on over-regulation of business. Titled “Unleashing America’s Workforce and Strengthening Our Economy,” the hearing focused on the adverse impact of a slew of recent regulations, including overtime pay (the white-collar exemption) and worker classification.

Senators closely questioned Department of Labor (DOL) Deputy Secretary nominee Keith Sonderling during his February 27 confirmation hearing before the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Sonderling has been nominated to serve in the number 2 spot at DOL. He vowed to undertake a wholesale review of every DOL enforcement division, and to make sure that DOL has the resources it needs to carry out its mission.

On March 10, the Senate voted to confirm former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR) to be Secretary of the Department of Labor (DOL). The 67 to 32 vote was bipartisan and included some GOP opposition as well as some Democratic support.

President Trump has nominated Daniel Aronowitz to lead the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA). Aronowitz is currently the president of ENCORE Fiduciary, an underwriter of insurance designed to protect employee benefits plans and trustees from fiduciary liability.

On March 12, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) along with Representatives Kathey Castor (D-FL) and Deborah Ross (D-NC) introduced the Insurance Fraud Accountability Act, which would impose civil and criminal penalties on agents and brokers engaging in misleading or fraudulent activities in the ACA marketplace, including enrolling individuals in plans without their consent and using deceptive marketing to target vulnerable groups.

President Trump and the GOP-controlled Congress are officially in power, and have begun work on an aggressive, high-profile agenda covering among other issues spending cuts, taxes, and shrinking the federal government. Many—maybe most—of these issues could directly impact NAIFA members.

Legislation to make permanent the section 199A deduction for qualifying noncorporate business income has been introduced in both the House and Senate. The legislation is partisan—only Republicans cosponsored it in both chambers of Congress—but the number of cosponsors (35 in the Senate, including most of the Senate GOP’s leadership, and 152 in the House) demonstrates the strength of support for the measure.

On January 3, Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL), a senior member of the tax-writing Ways & Means Committee, introduced H.R.143, a bill that would make permanent expiring individual tax rates (including section 199A), the standard deduction, the estate tax personal exemption, and other individual tax provisions. The bill also specifically repeals the expiration date of section 199A, the deduction for qualifying noncorporate business income.

In one of his first moves after his January 20 inauguration, President Trump ordered federal agencies to halt rulemaking until the new Administration can review all pending proposed regulations. He also ordered a review of regulations finalized late in the Biden Administration.

In a January 31 executive order (EO), President Trump once again made Treasury tax regulations subject to White House review. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) review of tax regulations was not required until President Trump’s first term, from 2017 to 2021. But then-President Biden reversed that order, again exempting tax regulations from OIRA review. Now, per this latest Trump EO, IRA will again be reviewing proposed tax regulations.

On January 3, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) introduced legislation that would repeal the limits on the kinds of businesses that are eligible for the section 199A deduction for qualifying noncorporate business income. The bill would also repeal the estate tax while retaining the step up in basis for assets passing to heirs after the decedent’s death.

Bipartisan legislation to allow 403(b) retirement savings plans to invest in collective investment trusts (CITs) has been introduced in both the House and Senate. The legislation would amend securities laws to allow for 403(b) CIT investments. Retirement law was amended to allow these CIT investments in SECURE 2.0, but efforts to expand the CIT investment authority to include securities laws fell short at the time.

A bipartisan Senate bill, the “Charitable Act,” would reestablish an above-the-line charitable deduction. The deduction would allow taxpayers who do not itemize to deduct their charitable contributions up to an amount equal to up to one third of the standard deduction.

On January 10, the Treasury Department released new guidance on SECURE 2.0 automatic enrollment and catch-up contribution rules. The automatic enrollment guidance is in REG-100669-24. The catch-up contribution proposed regulation is REG 1545-BR11.

On January 22, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued guidance on how employers should deal with the tax requirements of contributions and benefits paid under state paid and family leave programs. The guidance comes in Rev.Rul. 2025-4.

On January 27, the Senate voted to confirm the nomination of Scott Bessent as the 79^th Secretary of the Treasury. The vote was 68 to 29. Sixteen Democrats joined with the Republicans to approve the nomination.

On February 13, President Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Robert F. Kennedy Jr., won approval from the Senate following approval by the Senate Finance Committee on a party-line 14 to 13 vote.

The last big-ticket item approved by the 118^th Congress was enactment of a continuing resolution (CR), HR 10545, that keeps the government funded through March 14, 2025. The House and Senate approved the measure by wide margins. The House vote was 366 to 34, with one member voting “present.” The 366 aye votes included 170 Republicans and all Democrats except the one (Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas) who voted present. The Senate vote, coming just minutes after midnight December 20 deadline, was 85 to 11. President Biden signed it into law on December 21. Thus, the threatened partial government shutdown was averted, despite a few hours on a Saturday during which funding for the government technically ran out.

On December 23, 2024, President Biden signed into law two pieces of legislation that will ease the burden on employers and insurance carriers that need to submit information to the IRS and employees on health care coverage. The Paperwork Burden Reduction Act (H.R. 3797) and the Employer Reporting Improvement Act (H.R. 3801) were championed by a bipartisan group of legislators eager to provide significant relief from paperwork burdens for small businesses.