Last week, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution held a hearing titled “Keeping Congress Accountable: Term Limits In the United States.” Chaired by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the primary sponsor of the Senate’s constitutional amendment to impose term limits on Congress, the hearing included testimony from former-Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) as well as from a panel of two professors -- Lynda W. Powell and Dr. John David Rausch, Jr. -- alongside Nick Tomboulides, the Executive Director of the nonprofit group U.S. Term Limits.

FreedomWorks is proud to honor Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) as the member of the month for June 2019. He serves in the House of Representatives to represent Texas’ 21st Congressional District, which spans to the north and west of Austin, Texas. But in reality, Rep. Roy serves not only to represent his constituents but also to better the lives of all Americans by exposing and fighting against the status quo Washington ways that have put us $22 trillion in debt and left us more burdened by government than our founding fathers ever could have imagined.

FreedomWorks’ activist-chosen dumpster fire of the month for May 2019 is the Medicare for All Act, S. 1129, sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Not only would implementing “Medicare for All” add upwards of $32 trillion to our federal expenditures -- It would also result in, as our own Dan Savickas noted in FreedomWorks Foundation’s recently released booklet on entitlement reform, healthcare for none.

FreedomWorks is proud to announce that our bill of the month for May 2019 is the Death Tax Repeal Act, H.R. 218, sponsored by Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.) and boasting an impressive 82 cosponsors. The Death Tax Repeal Act would fully repeal the estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes that wreak havoc on American families who are already suffering the loss of a loved one, often causing them to lose their generations-old family businesses because of the excessive greed of the federal government.

As the House Education and Labor Committee and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) continue their discussions around reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA), most of the public chatter in the space centers around hot-button issues, including college affordability and student debt. This means that other aspects of a potential deal on HEA reauthorization are flying under the radar.

On Monday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) put out a release outlining its intentions for and the status of the implementation of the First Step Act. Signed into law on December 21, 2018, the First Step Act is a comprehensive overhaul of the federal prison system, run by the Bureau of Prisons. Certainly, it is encouraging to see the department taking affirmative steps toward implementing the law.

FreedomWorks is proud to announce that our bill of the month for April 2019 is the Billion Dollar Boondoggle Act, H.R. 1917 and S. 565, introduced by Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), joined by cosponsors Sens. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and James Lankford (R-Okla.). The Billion Dollar Boondoggle Act would require the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to submit an annual report detailing the costs and timelines of projects that are behind schedule, over budget, or both.

When President Trump’s budget request for fiscal year 2020 was released, many advocates of school choice were thrilled to see the cuts recommended for the Department of Education, to the tune of $7.1 billion. For those who believe that the federal government has no place in determining education policy, a $64 billion budget for the Department of Education is certainly preferable to a $71 billion budget.

Following the Senate’s passage yesterday of the joint resolution to disapprove of President Trump’s recent emergency declaration to use existing funds to construct a barrier along some portions of our southern border, it is clear that some in Congress are finally picking up an important message. Congress has to put a stop to and reverse course on its slow-but-steady ceding of its constitutional powers to the executive branch. On everything from trade and regulation to war and now the power of the purse, the executive branch and the president are much more powerful than was intended as outlined in Article I of the Constitution.