The U.S. Senate narrowly passed President Donald Trump’s sweeping “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act” after intense negotiations and a 27-hour amendment marathon, with Vice President J.D. Vance casting the tie-breaking vote. Key to the bill’s passage was securing the support of Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, whose concerns about deep Medicaid and SNAP cuts were addressed through last-minute changes and a $50 billion rural hospital relief fund. The legislation extends Trump-era tax cuts, boosts military and border security funding, phases out renewable energy credits, and raises the debt ceiling by $5 trillion. In a near unanimous vote, senators removed the bill's provision limiting states' ability to enact laws regulating artificial intelligence according to the Associated Press. A group of Tennessee state lawmakers had urged the Senate to remove the provision, which could have impacted the state's ELVIS Act, The Tennesse Journal reports. Despite the Senate win, the bill faces serious hurdles as it goes back to the House, The Hill reports.

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to advance to the full Senate President Trump's nomination of Whitney Hermandorfer to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. During the committee hearing earlier this month, Hermandorfer faced questions about her experience and the president’s interpretation of the birthright citizenship issue but won praise from Tennessee's congressional delegation and state Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti. Most recently serving as director of the Strategic Litigation Unit in Skrmetti’s office, Hermandorfer would replace Judge Jane Branstetter Stranch if confirmed. The committee also approved four other trial court nominees today, the first of Trump’s second term. Reuters has more on the action.

Two federal bills aim to increase transparency at the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), including one that would mandate at least four public board meetings per year and another that would require disclosure of employee salaries exceeding $123,041, the Nashville Post reports. The TVA Transparency Act, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett, Republican of Knox County, and co-sponsored by Rep. Steve Cohen, a Memphis Democrat, passed the U.S. House of Representatives on June 9 and now is under review by the U.S. Senate. Burchett and Cohen’s separate salary disclosure bill — the Tennessee Valley Authority Salary Transparency Act — passed the House in January. It has been introduced in the Senate by Tennessee Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty. TVA officials say they already comply with existing transparency laws and hold quarterly public meetings. TVA is federally owned and the largest public power supplier in the U.S., providing electricity to more than 10 million people.

Those who cannot afford law school tuition could end up paying more for their degrees — or be shut out altogether — under a proposed congressional cap on student loan borrowing, Reuters reports. The budget reconciliation bill, passed by the U.S. House in May and now under consideration in the Senate, includes proposed annual loan caps ranging from $50,000 to $77,000, with aggregate limits between $150,000 and $200,000 for professional degrees. The Senate proposal differs slightly. Under the current federal loan system, students may borrow the full cost of tuition and living expenses at fixed interest rates. Under the proposed changes, students who reach the cap would need to seek private loans to cover additional costs. The cap would apply to all professional degree programs, with students in high-cost fields such as law and medicine expected to be most affected. Law students on average borrowed $146,800 in 2020, according to the most recent data from AccessLex Institute. It was the second highest amount borrowed. Only those pursuing medical degree programs borrowed more.

U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty has reintroduced a bill that aims to prevent sanctuary cities from receiving federal funding for affordable housing, WZTV reports. The "No Community Development Block Grants for Sanctuary Cities Act" would amend the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, which authorized federal funding for various local government community development plans, to prohibit funding for Section 8 housing, rental assistance and other living assistance programs. "Cities that encourage illegal immigration shouldn’t be rewarded with federal housing subsidies," Hagerty said about the bill. Read more about the proposal in a press release from Tennessee's junior senator.

Last month, U.S. Reps. Bryan Steil, R-WI, and Joe Morelle, D-NY, held a roundtable discussion in Nashville with a panel of experts to address artificial intelligence’s effect on creativity and copyrights. During the two-hour conversation, House Administration Committee Chairman Steil and Ranking Member Morelle explored the implications of AI in the music industry with professionals from Nashville and beyond, the Tennessean reports. In March 2024, Tennessee became the first state to enact an AI-focused law protecting individuals’ voices and likenesses from misuse. A similar national bill, the No Fakes Act, is now under consideration in Congress. Tennessee's senior senator Marsha Blackburn has sponsored the bill in the U.S. Senate.

A bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tennessee, aims to increase transparency at the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) by requiring nearly all board and committee meetings to be public, with at least one week’s notice. The legislation, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives with bipartisan support, would amend the TVA Act of 1933 and includes exceptions for emergencies and sensitive competitive information. Burchett argues the change is necessary to restore public trust, while TVA maintains it already meets transparency standards and welcomes further input. The Chattanooga Times Free Press has the story. The Trump administration fired one TVA board member in March and fired the TVA chair in April.

Tennessee Republican Rep. Mark Green on Monday announced that he would resign his position in Congress after a final passage vote on the party's "Big, Beautiful Bill." Green said he was leaving for a position in the private sector that "was too exciting to pass up." The Hill reports that Green's decision to stay until the House gives the GOP’s tax cuts and spending package a final stamp of approval is a relief for Republican leadership, who are contending with a razor-thin majority and passed the same bill by a single vote last month. This is the second time Green has announced his resignation from Congress. His departure will open a seat on the House Homeland Security Committee. Green represents Tennessee's 7th Congressional District, which encompasses parts of Davidson, Montgomery and Williamson counties.

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, has introduced legislation that would make it illegal to dox federal law enforcement officials. On Wednesday, Blackburn filed the Protecting Law Enforcement from Doxxing Act, which would criminalize the act of “doxxing,” defined by the Department of Homeland Security as the collection and public release of personally identifiable information with malicious intent. According to NewsChannel 9, Blackburn's proposal follows public statements she has made expressing concern about Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell posting interactions between Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and Metro law enforcement on the city’s website. O’Connell has defended the move, saying the intent was not to endanger federal agents but to provide transparency for the public. Names he says were mistakenly posted online since have been removed.

Whitney Hermandorfer appeared before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday to answer questions about her nomination to the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. Tennessee’s senior U.S. senator and Senate Judiciary Committee member Marsha Blackburn introduced Hermandorfer and praised her clerkship experience and commitment to originalist jurisprudence, the Nashville Scene reports. Democrats on the committee focused on Hermandorfer’s experience and her position on President Donald Trump’s interpretation of birthright citizenship, according to Reuters. Several also used the hearing to criticize the administration for recently deciding to remove the American Bar Association (ABA) from its role in vetting judicial nominees. Hermandorfer was nominated by Trump in May to fill the seat of outgoing Judge Jane Branstetter Stranch, who plans to take senior status.