Congress returned to Washington shortly after Labor Day, facing a compressed legislative calendar, with lawmakers eager to wrap up must-pass items before turning fully to the November midterm elections. The House has already shortened its current session by two weeks, with the Senate likely to follow suit, teeing up a return after the midterms.
While you are likely seeing campaigning directly through cable and social media ads, mailers and maybe even canvassers, we are beginning to feel the pressure on and off Capitol Hill. As the halls of Congress grow quiet, CFP Board continues to build broad coalitions while also working with the Executive Branch and other key stakeholders to advance CFP Board’s public policy priorities.
Now, on to what’s happening with Congress and the Administration.
PUBLIC POLICY PRIORITIES
CFP Board Advocacy Proof Points
⟩⟩ Far too many of us have seen firsthand through clients, friends or even family members how financial fraud can devastate older Americans and vulnerable adults, who may have less opportunities to recover from major financial losses. Sadly, this is a growing problem. In 2025, Americans age 60 and older reported about $7.7 billion in total losses, a 59% increase over 2024. As we highlighted in a Capitol Hill briefing on this topic in July with Reps. Jefferson Shreve (R-IN) and Jamie Raskin (D-MD), CFP® professionals often serve as a first line of defense against fraud, highlighting the need for financial firms to have access to the tools that can allow them to intervene when they suspect something isn’t right.
We are making progress. In our last update, we reported that the U.S. House of Representatives passed the CFP Board-endorsed bipartisan Financial Exploitation Prevention Act (H.R. 2478) by an overwhelming majority vote of 414-2. The bipartisan bill would expand protections against the financial exploitation of seniors and vulnerable adults, providing mutual fund companies and transfer agents a vital “hold” by allowing for the delay of redemptions when elder financial fraud or exploitation is suspected. The bill has since been received in the Senate and referred to the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. Your voice matters! Contact your senators to support the Financial Exploitation Prevention Act.
CFP Board’s advocacy is also helping shape regulatory protections in this space. On September 3, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) filed a proposed rule change with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that would modernize Rules 2165 and 4512 and create Rule 2166. The filing builds on recommendations CFP Board made to FINRA in a comment letter earlier this year with FPA® and NAPFA, and marks important progress toward enabling financial firms to intervene before clients’ assets are irretrievably lost.
House Passes CFP Board-Supported Bill Providing Tax Relief for Fraud Victims
⟩⟩ Early Wednesday morning, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Tax Relief for Fraud Victims Act (H.R. 9500) by a vote of 408-17. The bill, which advances to the Senate, restores a critical federal tax deduction so that victims who lose their savings to fraudsters aren’t then hit with a huge tax bill from the IRS. "Most people who were victims of financial fraud, with some very narrow exceptions, were not able to be eligible to take that deduction," said CFP Board Managing Director of Government Relations & Public Policy Counsel Erin Koeppel in a Financial Planning article. One exception was "victims of specific kinds of investment fraud."
CFP Board played a sustained role in advancing this federal tax relief and worked with congressional staff, bill sponsors and coalition partners (including AARP) to raise awareness of how current tax law is further harming victims. We also conducted targeted congressional outreach, helped build support for legislative solutions, and then elevated the issue through research, public education and grassroots advocacy.
This effort also highlighted the value of our new Advocacy Center, with CFP® professionals sending nearly 700 messages to Congress about this issue, including 300 in the last two days alone when we learned the bill would receive a vote this week. It is gratifying knowing that victims — some of whom reached out to us personally after seeing CFP Board was involved in this issue — get the relief that they deserve.
CONGRESS
Lawmakers Punt Government Funding Deadline
⟩⟩ Do you remember last fall’s record-long government shutdown? Luckily, Congress averted a preelection shutdown this year. In early August, the Senate passed a continuing resolution (CR) by a vote of 90-6, with the House passing the measure on September 1 with a vote of 370-48. This punts the federal government funding deadline to December 11. While rank-and-file lawmakers on both sides of the aisle clearly demonstrated that there is little appetite for another contentious funding fight before the general election, the same might not hold true through the "lame duck" session of Congress after the election. Both parties are still far apart on a broader appropriations deal for fiscal year (FY) 2027.
Will There Be a Third Reconciliation Package?
⟩⟩ The Republican-led Congress has twice now used the special budget process of “reconciliation” to bypass the Senate 60-vote threshold to pass key Republican priorities, and work began on a third package this summer. However, the picture has grown murkier. House Republicans advanced a budget resolution in July for a roughly $95 billion package of measures concerning defense, intelligence, farm relief and election-related funding tied to implementation of the voter verification legislation, the SAVE America Act. The full House narrowly adopted along party lines (216-214), with committees instructed to produce legislative text. However, the Senate has not adopted a matching resolution, and a growing number of senators in both parties have publicly cast doubt on whether a third reconciliation bill can pass this Congress. We will continue to monitor for any provisions affecting retirement savings, tax policy or financial services regulation should the effort regain momentum.
Crypto World: Senate Roadblock Shifts Focus to Regulators
⟩⟩ The Senate's failure to advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (H.R. 3633) has dealt a significant setback to congressional efforts to establish a comprehensive framework for digital asset regulation. With little expectation that Congress will revisit the issue before the midterm elections and a changing political landscape ahead, attention is increasingly shifting to the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The agencies have and are expected to continue advancing crypto-related rulemakings, meaning the future of crypto market structure is likely to be shaped through regulation rather than legislation in the near term.
CFP Board Highlights the Value of Human Advice to Congress
⟩⟩ CFP Board recently provided comments to lawmakers on the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in financial services. Drawing on the work of CFP Board’s AI Working Group, including Leading the Future: Harnessing AI in the Financial Planning Profession, a report published in October 2025, and the Generative AI Ethics Guide, CFP Board shared perspectives on responsible AI adoption in financial planning, including the importance of consumer trust, human judgment, ethical standards, data privacy, model risk, governance, risk-based regulation and workforce development. In its letter, CFP Board emphasized that AI should strengthen, rather than undermine, the trusted relationship between financial planners and the clients they serve.
REGULATORY
A Fast-Moving Regulatory Agenda
⟩⟩ A number of recent SEC and FINRA proposals could affect CFP® professionals, their firms and the investors they serve. Several proposed SEC regulations are currently open for comment, including:
- Regulation E-Delivery, which would make electronic delivery the default for a broad range of required disclosures while preserving paper delivery upon request.
- Regulation Crypto Assets, which would create a tailored offering and disclosure framework for certain investment contracts, including registration exemptions, state preemption and a conditional safe harbor from the definition of an investment contact.
- Investment adviser pay-to-play reforms, which raise important questions about compliance obligations, political contributions and protections for government clients.
- A broad overhaul of the SEC’s transfer agent rules, updating a regulatory framework that has remained largely unchanged since the late 1970s and early 1980s when the market still relied heavily on paper certificates.
The SEC also recently submitted several rule proposals to the Office of Management and Budget for review including:
- Two corporate governance reforms: one regarding when a public company should include a shareholder proposal in its proxy materials and another expected to reduce compliance burdens associated with proxy solicitations and shareholder meetings.
- A proposal expected to make it easier for registered investment companies to provide retail investors with exposure to private market assets.
- A proposal expected to clarify how existing custody requirements apply to crypto assets and to modernize other provisions governing how investment advisers and investment companies safeguard client and fund assets.
Meanwhile, FINRA is considering modernization of its public communications rule to address changing social media practices and generative AI, as well as updates to its best-execution guidance.
New Guidance for 530A Trump Accounts
⟩⟩ The Treasury Department has recently issued two rounds of guidance. In August, it proposed rules on eligible 530A account investments, expanding options beyond funds that track Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index while requiring that any eligible index measure a broad segment of the U.S. or global equity market using objective criteria. Treasury also issued guidance on employer-sponsored contributions, allowing employers to contribute up to $2,500 tax-free annually per employee's dependent and permitting employees to make pre-tax payroll contributions. CFP Board had urged Treasury to answer questions about these issues and others in a comment letter back in May.
ON OUR RADAR
Midterm-Driven Committee Turnover
⟩⟩ With the November midterms approaching, the list of members retiring or forgoing reelection is starting to solidify, and it will shape who chairs and staffs the committees CFP Board works with most closely, including House Financial Services, Education and Workforce, and Ways and Means, and Senate Banking, HELP (Health, Education, Labor and Pensions) and Finance. We're tracking 2026 departures across both chambers now, so that our stakeholder outreach and coalition planning will be ready to adjust to new committee leadership and membership heading into 2027.
CFP Board to Join Upcoming Financial Literacy Hill Event
⟩⟩ Jump$tart, a coalition of more than 100 organizations committed to advancing financial literacy, is hosting its annual Financial Literacy Day on Capitol Hill on September 24, where CFP Board will showcase the benefits of CFP® professionals.
