On April 30, Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) together with several original co-sponsors re-introduced in the U.S. Senate the SHIPS for America Act, first introduced in December 2024, divided into two bills. Companion legislation was also introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Trent Kelly (R-MS) and Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA). This is a major, historic effort to revitalize the U.S. merchant marine. The legislation had to be re-introduced to be considered by the new U.S. Congress which commenced in January.

The annual False Claims Act (FCA) recovery statistics issued by the U.S. Department of Justice for Fiscal Year 2024, coupled with the Trump administration’s focus on the elimination of waste, fraud, and abuse in government spending and apparent intentions to rely on the FCA to pursue other administration priorities, signal a likely increase in FCA investigations and actions throughout 2025 and beyond.

On April 8, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) titled “Reinvigorating America’s Beautiful Clean Coal Industry.” This order aims to enhance the United States’ “economic prosperity and national security, lower the cost of living, and provide for increases in electrical demand from emerging technologies” by increasing domestic energy production via coal. The order emphasizes coal’s role in lowering electricity costs, stabilizing the grid, creating high-paying jobs, and supporting burgeoning industries.