skip to content
The Boring PartsFederalLocal · USLocal · Canada
The Boring Parts
Table of Contents

This week, the federal government churned out 134 actions — mostly routine administrative updates, but a few would directly affect family budgets, workplace pay, and consumer prices if finalized or as they take effect. Several agencies proposed rolling back regulations on child care and Head Start programs, the Labor Department restored the pre-2024 overtime salary threshold, and the Postal Service adjusted commercial shipping rates. Regulators also issued dozens of airworthiness directives, established temporary waterway closures for events, and renewed national emergencies.

Health, Child Care, and Family Programs

  • HHS proposed canceling wage and benefit mandates for Head Start programs that were added in 2024, including requirements to match public preschool teacher pay, guarantee a living wage, and provide health care and paid leave by 2028 and 2031. If finalized, local Head Start operators would face lower compliance costs.
  • HHS finalized a rule removing four federal requirements from child care block grants: the 7 percent cap on family co-payments, the requirement to pay providers in advance, and two provider contracting/payment rules. States now have full discretion to set their own subsidy rules.
  • HHS extended the compliance deadlines for its 2024 rule requiring grant recipients to make websites and mobile apps accessible to people with disabilities. The original May 2026 and May 2027 deadlines are pushed back; the underlying requirement is unchanged.
  • The FDA classified the BioFire Joint Infection Panel, a test for orthopedic infections, as a Class II medical device with special controls — creating a clearer path for competitors to market similar tests.
  • The Treasury, Labor, and HHS departments proposed a rule clarifying when standalone fertility benefits can be treated as “excepted benefits” exempt from many Affordable Care Act requirements.
  • The House advanced a bill to let the VA distribute opioid reversal medications like naloxone to veterans without a prescription or copayment.
  • A House committee approved a substitute version of the Veteran Infection Prevention Act, a procedural step that does not yet change VA policy.
  • House and Senate bills were introduced on foster youth support: one for pregnant and parenting foster youth, one for workforce training for youth leaving foster care, and one to adjust benefits and services for former foster youth. None have passed.

Work, Pay, and Workplace Rules

  • The Labor Department reinstated the 2019 salary threshold of $684 per week for white-collar overtime exemptions, following court orders that threw out the 2024 rule that had raised it. Employers who adjusted to the 2024 rule may need to revert those changes.
  • The Transportation Department updated drug and alcohol testing rules for safety-sensitive workers, allowing directly observed tests to temporarily use urine instead of oral fluid because no federal-certified labs process oral fluid yet.

Shipping, Mail, and Consumer Shipping

  • USPS updated prices and standards for competitive products (Priority Mail, Ground Advantage, Parcel Select). Most retail and commercial base prices stay the same, but dimensional weight calculations, cubic packaging tiers, and fees for hazardous materials and address validation are changing — mainly affecting commercial shippers.
  • The Postal Regulatory Commission finalized rules requiring the Postal Service to get Commission approval before changing its internal service-performance measurement systems and to justify its performance targets.

Aviation and Transportation Safety

  • The FAA issued or proposed dozens of airworthiness directives this week. Notable ones: mandatory fuselage inspections for 123 older Boeing 737s due to cracking risk near the aft drain mast; inspections for Airbus A319/A320/A321 fasteners tied to a manufacturing deviation; replacement of oxygen generator clamps on 38 Airbus A350s at up to $260,050 per plane; and a life raft inflation unit replacement on Leonardo helicopters costing about $9,250 each.
  • The FAA proposed a rule requiring Pilatus PC-12/47E owners to inspect emergency exit trim panels, after finding panels could block the exit door from opening during an evacuation.
  • The FAA proposed inspections for Diamond DA20-C1 emergency locator transmitters, at about $85 per plane in labor, to ensure beacons activate after a crash.
  • The Federal Railroad Administration proposed canceling two 2024 certification rules — one for signal workers and one for dispatchers — which would remove federal requirements for railroads to train, verify, and track those employees’ qualifications.
  • The FRA also finalized a separate rule clarifying existing training and qualification standards for safety-related railroad employees.

Waterways, Coasts, and Maritime

  • The Coast Guard established or proposed several temporary safety zones: a Secret Service security zone on the Ohio River near Cincinnati (May 8–11), a fireworks closure on the Delaware River in Philadelphia (May 12, 8:15 –8:30 p.m.), a boat restriction for the Miami Beach Air and Sea Show (May 22–24), a safety zone around a South Padre Island fireworks barge (May 16), and a New Orleans waterway closure extension for a sewage leak cleanup (through May 22).
  • The Coast Guard proposed making permanent three recurring Virginia fireworks safety zones and three recurring Virginia boat race safety zones, replacing year-by-year temporary rules.
  • NOAA set 2026 catch limits for Pacific whiting, and closed directed fishing for Pacific cod by hook-and-line catcher/processors in the western Gulf of Alaska once the 701-metric-ton limit is reached.

Environment and Public Lands

  • The EPA finalized a determination that the Cleveland, Ohio area meets the 2015 ozone standard (0.070 parts per million), relieving the state of ozone planning paperwork for that region.
  • The EPA approved multiple state air quality plans: Illinois’ ozone plan for Chicago and Metro East, Indiana’s alternative NOx monitoring rules, Michigan’s ozone infrastructure plan, Montana’s updated rules for the Western Sugar plant, and tighter emission limits for a Minnesota wastewater plant.
  • The EPA proposed declaring Plumas County, California, in compliance with the 2012 fine particulate standard, and proposed approving Alaska’s hazardous waste program so the state runs its own waste rules.
  • The EPA transferred oversight of sewage sludge incinerators in parts of Washington state to the Northwest Clean Air Agency; emission standards are unchanged.
  • The Bureau of Land Management finalized a rule fully rescinding its 2024 Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, which had required land health monitoring, allowed third-party restoration leases, and updated Area of Critical Environmental Concern designations.
  • The BLM separately proposed updating its livestock grazing regulations, which are largely based on a 1995 revision with parts blocked by courts.

Agriculture and Food

  • The USDA ordered a referendum for California kiwifruit growers to decide whether to continue Marketing Order No. 920. About 142 eligible growers will vote May 18 through June 8, 2026.
  • The USDA scheduled a July 2026 referendum on whether to continue the Blueberry Promotion, Research, and Information Order, which funds industry promotion and research through assessments.
  • The USDA lowered the assessment rate for California date handlers in Riverside County from 15 cents to 5 cents per hundredweight, after the program’s reserve fund grew too large.
  • The USDA asked for public input on how to regulate genetically engineered organisms, following a court setback to its biotechnology rules.

Broadband, Communications, and Technology

  • The FCC finalized rules replacing 1990s-era power limits for non-geostationary satellite networks with modern performance standards, giving satellite internet operators more flexibility.
  • The FCC proposed stopping recognition of wireless test labs in countries without reciprocal agreements with the U.S., which could shift where manufacturers test equipment and potentially raise costs.
  • The FCC proposed replacing its “Audible Crawl Rule” for emergency broadcasts with a simpler standard requiring broadcasters to read aloud on-screen text crawls containing emergency information.
  • The FCC proposed rules for Auction 114, which will sell construction permits for full-power FM radio stations, tentatively scheduled to begin February 2, 2027.
  • The FCC finalized changes tightening oversight of testing facilities and certification bodies that approve wireless equipment, and created a faster review path for devices tested in U.S. labs or labs in reciprocal-agreement countries.
  • The President extended the national emergency on information and communications technology supply chain security for one year, preserving existing authorities to review or block certain foreign technology transactions.

Congress and National Emergencies

  • The Senate passed a resolution to withhold senators’ pay during government shutdowns, linking congressional compensation to federal funding status.
  • The House passed a resolution expressing support for law enforcement officers and approved a bill allowing the National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service to take place on Capitol grounds.
  • The House passed a non-binding resolution calling on the President to prioritize the release of specific individuals detained in China; it carries no legal weight.
  • The House approved a motion to reconsider a resolution on antisemitism and Jewish-American history, and agreed to a resolution memorializing law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty.
  • The House Committee on Foreign Affairs voted 43-3 to report a bill affirming the U.S.-South Korea alliance — a symbolic step, not a new law.
  • The President issued proclamations designating May 8 as Victory Day for World War II and Military Spouse Day, and May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day with flags at half-staff. These are ceremonial actions with no legal effect.
  • The President extended the national emergency on Yemen for one more year, and issued a determination that enough non-Iranian oil supplies exist to allow foreign banks to reduce Iranian purchases — both administrative renewals.

Immigration, Trade, and Financial Regulation

  • DHS proposed a rule giving USCIS officers more authority to deny immigration benefit requests when an invalid signature is found after the application was accepted.
  • CBP extended import restrictions on archaeological and ethnological material from Türkiye through March 24, 2031, keeping existing customs enforcement in place.
  • The DEA permanently placed the synthetic cannabinoid CUMYL-PEGACLONE in Schedule I, the highest control level, meaning possession, distribution, or manufacturing now carries clear federal legal consequences.
  • The CFTC proposed requiring clearing for interest rate swaps in Canadian dollars and Mexican pesos, bringing them under the same clearing framework as major currencies; it also approved Goldman Sachs Paris using EU capital rules instead of U.S. requirements.
  • The Federal Maritime Commission proposed updating how it handles outside communications during rulemakings — an internal procedural update.
  • The House introduced a 2027 appropriations bill covering Commerce, Justice, and science agencies, a standard step in the federal budgeting process.

Other Notable Items

  • The House introduced numerous bills that have not passed, including the CONNECT Act on broadband funding, the Rural Broadband Protection Act (passed in the Senate), the Save Our Shrimpers Act, the Extinction Prevention Act, the IGNITE HBCU Excellence Act, and bills on flood mapping, water reuse, and corporate prosecution standards.
  • The CPSC updated its mandatory safety standard for toddler beds to align with the industry standard manufacturers already follow; effective August 29, 2026, with minimal practical impact.
  • A Senate bill would require certain public transit agencies to install baby changing stations on vehicles.
  • The CFTC updated the description of its official seal — an administrative change with no effect on the agency’s authority.

This weekly digest is generated from federal records (the Federal Register and Congress.gov) and summarized in plain English. It may simplify or omit detail — follow the linked official sources before relying on any item. Part of The Boring Parts.

Related actions