Senate passes Trey's Law; oil futures probe, college sports bill headline recess Wednesday

The Senate passed the Terminating Restrictive Enforcement of Youth Settlements Act — Trey's Law — by unanimous consent Wednesday. The bill voids confidentiality agreements that prevent survivors or witnesses from speaking about sexual abuse involving a minor, blocks private settlements from interfering with law enforcement investigations, and applies retroactively, overriding weaker state laws.

The bill is named for Trey Carlock, who was silenced by an NDA after civil litigation against Kanakuk Ministries and died by suicide at age 28. Sen. Moody framed her support in terms of her prior role as Florida's attorney general: "As Florida's Attorney General, I put the protection of children first, stood up for victims, and have carried that mission to the United States Senate. I'm extremely encouraged to see this legislation advance, but the work is not finished. Survivors should be able to speak the truth freely, cooperate with law enforcement, and seek justice without intimidation."

Two years after Sen. Ossoff's bipartisan REPORT Act became law, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children released 2025 data showing a dramatic increase in tech-platform reporting. According to NCMEC, "In 2023, one year before the REPORT Act was enacted, online platforms submitted 8,480 CyberTipline reports relating to child sex trafficking. In 2025, the first full year after implementation, online platforms submitted 105,877 reports — a more than 1,100% increase that underscores the impact of expanded reporting requirements."

"I know that for every parent in Georgia, the worst nightmare is your child being trafficked and approached by a predator online, and it happens every single day across the country," Ossoff said. "That's why I worked to bring Republicans and Democrats together to pass the REPORT Act into law so that social media and tech companies are required to report evidence of sexual enticement or trafficking of children online to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children."

The law — co-authored with Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. — also requires evidence preservation for longer periods and increases fines for companies that knowingly fail to report child sex abuse material.

Five Democratic senators sent a letter Wednesday to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission demanding a full investigation and public report on suspicious oil futures trades timed to White House announcements about the U.S. military conflict with Iran. The letter was led by Warnock and joined by Senate Agriculture Ranking Member Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., and Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich.

The senators wrote: "Recent U.S. military action against Iran has resulted in significant volatility in global markets, with prices surging from $66 to nearly $120 per barrel since the onset of the military action against Iran, with oil futures settling between $100 and $110 per barrel. Suspicious trades reportedly occurring minutes before major White House announcements regarding the military conflict in Iran have raised concerns about trading on material nonpublic information and market manipulation."

"The integrity of America's commodity futures markets must remain above reproach. Should market participants become convinced a few insiders are profiting on inside information at their expense, we could see reduced market liquidity, heightened volatility, and disruptions to the efficient pricing and flow of physical commodities," the senators concluded.

A bipartisan quartet — Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Ranking Member Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del. — unveiled the Protect College Sports Act of 2026 on Wednesday, rolling out coordinated releases within two minutes of each other.

Cruz framed the stakes bluntly: "College sports are at a breaking point. Fans can see their favorite teams being hollowed out by transfer chaos, fake NIL bidding wars, eligibility lawsuits, and a system that allows the richest programs to keep pulling away. The Protect College Sports Act is a bipartisan plan to restore order."

Cantwell put the numbers to it: "We're seeing thousands of men's and women's athletic roster slots and a hundred athletic programs being cut. Collegiate athletics is a hallmark for human development. Let's not ruin it with out-of-control chaos."

Coons described the bill as protecting "student-athletes and ensure they receive the compensation, benefits, and safeguards they've earned on the field and in the courtroom" while helping smaller schools avoid eliminating programs. Schmitt's office noted the legislation incorporates his separate framework allowing conferences to pool media rights to grow revenue.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Ranking Member of the Senate HELP Committee, led 34 colleagues in demanding Education Secretary Linda McMahon immediately reverse course at the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights. The letter cited OCR providing relief in just 1 percent of pending cases in 2025 and reaching zero resolution agreements in categories including sexual harassment, sexual violence, seclusion, restraint, racial harassment, and discriminatory discipline.

"Make no mistake: OCR's disastrous recent track record in providing enforceable relief for students is a direct consequence of choices made by the Trump administration," the senators wrote. "The Department formally rescinded those layoffs in January 2026, but only after nine months of paid inaction, sustained court orders, and congressional pressure. The students and families with pending cases cannot get that time back. Thousands of students who reached out to OCR for protection were denied any enforceable relief and that is unacceptable."

Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., joined Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., and eight Republican cosponsors in reintroducing legislation to permanently reauthorize E-Verify and require its use by all U.S. employers. The Mandatory E-Verify Act of 2026 (S.4620) has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"E-Verify used to confirm worker eligibility, but lax enforcement and open-border policies have weakened its effectiveness to guarantee that authorized workers, not ineligible illegal immigrants, are being hired," said Hyde-Smith. Britt cited 2025 usage data in making the case: "E-Verify works, evidenced by the more than 43 million times it was used in 2025 alone. This is a common-sense bill that everyone should be able to get on board with, and I will work diligently to usher this legislation through the Senate and get it to President Trump's desk."

Additional cosponsors include Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Ted Budd, R-N.C., Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., James Lankford, R-Okla., and Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., published an op-ed in TIME Wednesday arguing that taxing artificial intelligence — specifically the energy usage of data centers — and overhauling the broader tax code are necessary to prevent AI from concentrating wealth further. The op-ed was flagged in a press release from her office.

The senator's office highlighted two lines from the piece: "If we overhaul our tax code and tax AI, we can use that money to build a country that works for everyone" and "The American people deserve to share in the success of this technology." Warren's release did not include additional floor or committee action tied to the proposal.

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., announced Wednesday that the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence passed the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027 with strong bipartisan support — and with five Kelly-authored amendments requiring new transparency around the intelligence community's use of AI, including in military targeting workflows.

"As AI takes a bigger role in our intelligence and military operations, Congress has a responsibility to understand how it's being used and build in safeguards for the American people before problems arise," Kelly said. "We can continue to lead on AI and be smart about it. That's why I worked to make sure we're using AI responsibly, that Congress stays in the loop, and that we protect our national security from foreign adversaries who are investing heavily into AI."

Kelly's provisions would require the Director of National Intelligence to review AI use in targeting workflows, mandate that all AI outputs be visibly marked for military personnel, and direct Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity studies on AI-on-AI attacks and inadvertent escalation risks.

Sens. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., secured Senate passage Wednesday of the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Reauthorization Act, which would extend the RCHD program — supporting rural hospitals too large for Critical Access Hospital status but still struggling under Medicare's payment structure — for another five years. The legislation is led by Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and draws a broad bipartisan cosponsor list.

"When emergencies happen, care close to home saves lives. Access to a nearby hospital is lifesaving for people living in our rural communities across New Mexico," said Luján. "Right now, many rural hospitals in New Mexico are at risk of closing. Extending the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration program is essential to helping keep those doors open and ensuring families can get the care they need. The Senate passed our legislation, and now the House needs to act without delay to protect health care access for every New Mexican."

New Mexico hospitals currently in the program — Roosevelt General Hospital and Artesia General Hospital — would be eligible to extend participation. The bill now heads to the House.

Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., issued two mental health releases Wednesday — a notable single-day pairing. He reintroduced the SMART Community Policing Act with Rep. Jason Crow to fund co-responder partnerships between law enforcement and behavioral health specialists, and separately introduced a bipartisan resolution with Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., designating May 29, 2026, as Mental Health Awareness in Agriculture Day.

On the policing bill: "Too often, people experiencing a mental health crisis end up in situations that escalate because they are not getting the care and support they need," Bennet said. On the agriculture resolution, Fischer added the economic context: "Right now, a struggling farm economy is making life even harder — and it weighs heavily on the minds of those who feed and fuel our nation."

The agriculture resolution companion was introduced in the House by Reps. Mike Bost, R-Ill., and Kim Schrier, D-Wash. Bost noted that the farmer suicide rate runs 3.5 times higher than the general population.

Sen. Klobuchar wrote to Postmaster General David Steiner on Wednesday urging him to reverse the Postal Service's Regional Transportation Optimization plan, which lowers service standards and eliminates end-of-day mail collection at most post offices, particularly in rural areas. Minnesota newspapers including the Kittson County Enterprise and the Timberjay expect at least one additional day of delay for subscribers.

"Local newspapers are already facing an existential crisis with ad revenues plummeting, newspapers closing, and many rural communities becoming 'news deserts' without access to local reporting," Klobuchar wrote. "The United States Postal Service should be helping these local newspapers reach their communities, not making it more difficult for them to do their critical work."

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and seven Senate colleagues wrote to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin Wednesday calling for a comprehensive plan to reduce human exposure to microplastics. The letter cited the Make America Healthy Again Commission's May 2025 report, which found the concentration of microplastics in Americans' brain tissue increased by 50 percent between 2016 and 2024.

"We must address the high levels of exposure that Americans have to microplastics in our drinking water and food," Gillibrand said. "The health and safety of our communities depend on access to safe and reliable waterways and food supplies, and I urge Administrator Zeldin to take every action within the EPA's authority to ensure Americans do not consume potentially harmful microplastics in their everyday lives."

Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., met Thursday with Michael Duffey, Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment, to push for accelerated development of the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program and related upgrades at Minot Air Force Base — the nation's only dual nuclear base.

"Minot Air Force Base is the only dual nuclear base in our nation, with an incredibly important mission given the security challenges we face around the globe," Hoeven said. "We outlined the importance of accelerating our nuclear modernization efforts, including fielding new helicopters to guard the missile fields, upgrading our B-52s and accelerating both the LRSO and Sentinel programs to ensure we're able to deter our enemies now and well into the future."

Hoeven is now pressing a $232 million FY 2027 budget proposal for Sentinel upgrades at Minot, including a $108 million security forces complex and a $124 million vehicle maintenance complex.

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., held a press conference in Destin on Wednesday as the second stop of his annual Hurricane Preparedness Tour, joining Rep. Jimmy Patronis and Red Cross representatives to urge Floridians to act before the 2026 season begins.

"Hurricane Season is almost here, and the time to prepare is today — not tomorrow, not next week. It only takes one storm, and having your disaster plans set and preparedness kits stocked will save lives," Scott said. "You can rebuild homes, but you can't rebuild your life."

Scott's office also noted his bipartisan Doug LaMalfa Federal Disaster Tax Relief Certainty Act passed the House unanimously last month; Scott is working to advance it in the Senate.

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., toured Century Villages at Cabrillo in Long Beach on Wednesday alongside Mayor Rex Richardson, spotlighting his Housing BOOM Act — introduced in December 2025 — as a response to housing supply shortages, rising rents, and barriers to homeownership. The release was photo-focused and contained no direct quotes from Schiff.

Signals

• volumeWednesday's 18 releases ran 82% below the Wednesday baseline of 99.9 — consistent with the Memorial Day state work period recess.
• recessThe Senate is in the Memorial Day state work period recess; no floor votes are scheduled, and multiple releases reflect field events and constituent-facing activity rather than legislative floor action.
• coordinatedSens. Cruz, Cantwell, Schmitt, and Coons issued separate but near-simultaneous releases on the Protect College Sports Act within roughly two minutes of each other — a coordinated rollout across the Senate Commerce Committee.
• volumeSen. Bennet, D-Colo., issued two releases within five minutes of each other, both tied to National Mental Health Awareness Month — an unusual same-day pairing from a single office.
• volumeSen. Scott, R-Fla., issued duplicate releases — one in English and one in Spanish — for the same Destin hurricane preparedness event, consistent with bilingual constituent outreach ahead of hurricane season.

Quiet desks

Senators with no release in two weeks or more.

• Sen. Alan Armstrong, R-OK—
• Sen. Tina Smith, D-MN28d
• Sen. Thom Tillis, R-NC23d