The Bellevue Compass

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Welcome back to the Bellevue Compass. Congress is out this week, but Speaker of the House Mike Johnson managed to move three big bills before legislators left town. Outside of legislation, the sudden collapse of Spirit Airlines left travelers reeling. Plus, this year’s Pulitzer Prize winners have been announced. We break it all down below. 

The Congressional Breakdown

The FISA Section 702 passed through Congress with another patchwork extension, this time 45 days, and now heads to President Trump’s desk. The House passed a three-year extension of the bill last Wednesday, but it included a provision that would ban central bank currency—a nonstarter for Majority Leader Thune in the Senate. Ultimately, the upper chamber agreed to the 45-day extension to give them time to reach agreement. 

Wednesday’s procedural vote on the farm bill was left open for a whopping five hours, as Johnson tried to whip his caucus into shape and get the bill, sans-ethanol regulations, over the finish line. Now it moves to the Senate, where some Democrats say their support for the agricultural bill will depend on “changes to the cost-share framework for SNAP.” Baked into the farm bill are changes that were conceived from the One Big Beautiful Bill, which requires states with high error rates in the SNAP program (6% or more) to share the cost of running it with the federal government. While the farm bill and H.R. 1 are two separate entities, the farm bill covers nutrition programs, and Democrats see the bill as the most natural legislative vehicle to modify or reverse what was done to programs like SNAP in the reconciliation bill. More on this below in The Pennsylvania Impact section. 

Now that the partial DHS shutdown is over, the GOP conference is turning its attention to a $72 billion reconciliation bill that includes $1 billion in funding for security upgrades to the new White House ballroom. The legislation specifies that none of the funds may be used for the construction of the ballroom, only for security-related upgrades. The bill is already contentious, with Democrats loudly denouncing the proposed $30.73 billion for hiring and training for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including officers, agents, investigators, attorneys, and support staff through fiscal year 2029. 

The ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict continues to complicate legislative priorities and dominate the news cycle as the ceasefire remains shaky. By citing the ceasefire—which occurred prior to the 60-day War Powers deadline—as the conclusion of hostilities, the administration aims to persuade Congress to treat the event as a reset for the statutory clock and avoid a War Powers vote. Conflict continues to interrupt trade and shipping as Iranian forces reportedly fired at vessels being guided by the U.S. Navy through the Strait of Hormuz, and President Trump announced a pause on the U.S. operation “Project Freedom” on Tuesday at the request of Pakistan. Project Freedom—which began on May 4, 2026—according to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, is a temporary defense effort to restart shipping through the Strait, which has been closed for weeks and under the Iranian regime’s control. 

The Sector Breakdown

The PA Impact

The farm bill’s passage through the House—shepherded in large part by House Agriculture Committee Chairman G.T. Thompson (R-PA-15)—has implications for the Commonwealth. Nearly one in ten jobs in Pennsylvania are tied to agriculture, an illustration of how much the state is impacted by agricultural legislative movement. The bill’s path in the Senate is complicated, too, by its impact on food security. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act included a 20% cut to SNAP funding, and about one-third of those cuts shifted program costs to the states. 

The Shapiro administration has committed more than $40 million in state funds to combat hunger, but any additional federal SNAP cost-shift would put more pressure on the state budget. There’s a collision brewing between agricultural interests and food safety advocates in the center of the farm bill, and we expect to see arguments over cost-sharing changes for food assistance programs like SNAP before the bill gets passed. 

Outside of moving legislation, there’s a growing effort by Republicans to convince PA’s Senator Fetterman to switch parties. Though publicly Fetterman has said he’s not switching parties, the anonymous and secretive reports coming out of Capitol Hill say that he’s not totally opposed to the idea, as he continues to split from the party’s harder line on immigration, support for Israel, and government funding, among other things. 

Pennsylvania is also taking its own stance on AI as the federal government continues to push regulations to the wayside. The state has sued the artificial intelligence chatbot maker Character Technologies Inc., the company behind Character.AI, to stop its chatbots from “engaging in the unlawful practice of medicine and surgery”. The lawsuit claims the chatbots illegally hold themselves out as doctors and are deceiving the system’s users into thinking they’re receiving professional medical advice from someone licensed to give it. Legal actions such as this, alongside the increasing number of negligence and wrongful death suits emerging as AI adoption grows, may prompt judicial rulings on whether AI chatbots are liable for the unauthorized practice of medicine. Cases like this could also determine if AI platforms will continue to benefit from legal protections that typically shield internet providers from liability regarding user-generated content.

What We’re Watching

Did You Know? Pennsylvania is the origin of a famous golfer and his preferred drink. Arnold Palmer was born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and popularized the half-iced tea, half-lemonade drink that you’re likely to see more of in the summer months. 

Till next time,