The House and Senate are in session this week.

On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) filed cloture on the motion to concur to the House amendment to S. 756. The bill will serve as the vehicle for the First Step Act, the prison and sentencing reform bill supported by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

There have been a number of news stories in the past 24 hours about a government shutdown over border security. Although FreedomWorks doesn’t take positions on immigration issues, we do work on budget and appropriations issues. What Americans are hearing about the possibility of a government shutdown has not included any clarity on what that means.

The House and Senate are in session this week.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has a long, well-documented history of abusing federal forfeiture laws. They seize assets from innocent Americans on the mere suspicion of malfeasance. If the IRS believes a citizen is structuring deposits to avoid reporting requirements, the agency can seize your money. Administrative reforms were made in 2015 to roll back some abuses, but there is still much work to be done.

The House and Senate are in session this week.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Timbs v. Indiana. The case centers around the use of civil asset forfeiture and whether or not to incorporate the Excessive Fines Clause of the Eighth Amendment to the states. Although the Court won’t decide the case until next year, the oral arguments show that most of the justices appear ready to deal a long overdue blow to civil asset forfeiture.

The House and Senate are in session this week.

The House and Senate are in session.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of the Treasury, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have issued new guidance that will make it easier for states to get waivers from certain mandates under Section 1332 of the so-called “Affordable Care Act,” also known as the “ACA” or “ObamaCare.” The goal of the new guidance is to provide consumers with more private insurance options in the nongroup health insurance market.